The Soldier
by IceWarrior13
Summary: Agent Texas was said to be the most dangerous man on Remnant. No one knew where he came from or why he did what he did, just that he was the very best at what he did. He was a deadly force that would do anything for the right price. One night, Tex is cornered and taken into the custody of two professors from Beacon Academy. Who is Agent Texas? Or is the real question "what"?
1. Prologue - The Rogue Freelancer

_**"Agent Texas."**_

 _A figure in full-body black armor beat back several larger attackers with their bare hands, almost too easily._

 _ **"Better known in the criminal-underworld as**_ _ **Tex**_ _ **."**_

 _The figure leapt up and spun, kicking several more attackers in the head and knocking them back and out with one sweep._

 _ **"Bounty-hunter, mercenary, thrill-seeker..."**_

 _The figure cracked their knuckles, a new wave of opponents readying to attack. They slowly drew two sub-machine-guns (SMGs) and turned around._

 _ **"They say he would rip a man's arm off for five lien, and not bat an eye."**_

 _The figure opened fire and sent dozens of enemies falling to the ground in heaps, not saying a word as he stepped over their bodies._

 _The figure exited the bar, turned, and threw a plasma-grenade in. The bomb detonated and filled the entire building with smoke and ash as it burned all of the alcohol inside, doing little harm to the other buildings and the unconscious bodies inside._

 _The figure wasn't there to kill, but to send a very strong message. Either that, or the people in the bar had done something minor that pissed the figure off._

 _ **"Nobody knows where he came from, or why he does what he does."**_

 _Nodding at their work, the figure turned around to see dozens of guns aiming at them, police-officers glaring from the entrance to the bar._

 _"Agent Texas, you are under arrest for disturbance of the peace." The chief glared, hands shaking. The figure rested a hand on their hip, a voice-filter in place as they spoke._

 _"You're kidding, right?"_

...

"Just that he's the very best at what he does." A scroll was set down on a steel table, two brown eyes narrowing behind glasses. "So tell me, _Texas_... Are the rumors surrounding you true?" Silence. "I know the police took you voice-filter, but you need to speak if you want to avoid spending any more time in prison than you have to." It remained silent. "It is not wise to test my patience."

The grey-haired man dressed in dark-green gazed at the figure across the table coldly, even though he couldn't help but feel a tad bit intimidated by the blank gaze of the yellow visor.

Even under the full-body armor, Professor Ozpin could tell that his opponent in this seemingly never-ending stare-down was strongly-built, pure muscle. From what he had heard in rumors and seen in footage, he knew that the being across from him was a deadly threat.

"Hmph." The figure simply replied by casually raising its right middle finger. At this, the woman standing behind Professor Ozpin glared.

"Why, you-!"

"Glynda." Ozpin warned, raising a hand in warning. "From what I've heard, Agent Texas is capable of bringing down fully-realized and experienced Huntsmen with his bare hands."

"Then, why haven't we restrained him?!"

"He broke anything that we tried to use to hold him."

"Then, what's keeping him, here?"

"The door is reinforced Hardsteel, but it is voice-commanded. Anyone can open it, as long as they speak... Agent Texas seems quite determined to hide his voice from us."

"Then, why haven't we removed his helmet?" Glynda asked. The figure in black glared from behind his visor, then looked at Ozpin expectantly.

"A man tried, and he got his arm broken in three places." Ozpin replied. Texas shrugged, like they hadn't been fazed in the slightest by committing such a cold and brutal act. "Agent Texas, you will not leave this room until you reveal your face, true identity, and voice."

The figure gazed at the man for a second, then leaned back in his seat and kicked his feet up onto the table, crossing one leg over the other as they made themselves comfortable.

"You have got to be kidding me." Glynda deadpanned. "Just who do you think you are?!" The figure shrugged, giving off an air of smugness that clearly said ' _bitch, I know who I am_ '.

"Oh, well." Ozpin smirked. "If we can't get anything out of you, perhaps the soldiers in Atlas Maximum-Security Prison can." At this, Texas tensed. "Not a fan of Atlas, are we? It makes sense, seeing as how your first several cases of disturbing the peace took place there: all military encounters. Strange, how someone so infamous only appeared on the map six months ago... Traveling the world and causing as much trouble as you have in such a short time is not small feat, Agent Texas."

"Don't complement him!"

"Glynda, please... Tell me, Agent Texas, why do they call you that? You are on none of Vale's records, or on the records of any of the other kingdoms, as an agent of any kind. No one ever heard of you until six months ago... And yet, your reputation is known by all. You will complete any task for the right price. People pay you in lien, artifacts, favors, and other valuables in order to enlist your services. You've wounded many people, killed even more... What are you, Texas?"

The figure seemed to contemplate the question, then looked down at his left arm and opened a compartment in his armor, revealing a dial. Texas looked up at Glynda and Ozpin, and they could almost feel the smirk.

"What are you-?!" Glynda reached out, only for Texas to spin the dial and disappear. "Where did he go?!" Suddenly, Glynda was blindsided and sent flying into a wall, falling to the floor in a heap with a small noise of pain. Ozpin stood and raised his cane, looking around with narrowed eyes.

"Texas!" He shouted. "You can't escape without revealing yourself!" That's when an invisible fist slammed into the metal, reinforced security-door with enough force to dent it. The next hit punched a hole right through it. "Impossible..." As Ozpin stared, Texas suddenly flickered and reappeared, looking at his left shoulder in annoyance.

 ** _/\_**

 _A tiny, stormy-grey holographic-figure in similar armor to Texas' appeared in Texas' visor-vision, hovering the air and sighing as he shook his head, growling._

 _"_ _ **I cannot run all of this equipment at once, Texas! Cloaking, strength-boost, and speed-boost all take up too much of your suit's energy!**_ _" He protested. Texas glared, then gestured to his right wrist. "_ _ **No! I can't keep this up for much longer, you fool! For the Alpha's sake, you don't use me for weeks and then expect me to go into overdrive?!**_ _" Texas seemed to deadpan, and the hologram sighed. "_ _ **I hate this fucking job. Sure, we send many despicable souls into OBLIVION, but I need a vacation...**_ _" Texas rolled his eyes and gestured to Ozpin. "_ _ **Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy? We are going up against him? You are absolutely insane... We shall be victorious! Let us send him into OBLIVION!**_ _" Surprisingly, Texas shook his head. "_ _ **What?! But we will go down in history!**_ _" Texas gestured with his hand. "_ _ **Right, right... But haven't you drawn enough attention to yourself? You haven't exactly been discrete these last few months.**_ _" Tex raised an eyebrow. "_ _ **I know, I know. They are idiots... So, what is the plan?**_ _" Texas smirked. "_ _ **I hate it when you do that, yet I LOVE IT!**_ _"_

 ** _/\_**

Tex ran at Ozpin, ducking and sliding underneath him (between his legs) and slamming his feet into the door, creating more dents. Tex dodged the cane and leapt up onto the steel table, jumping back and flipping the table at Beacon's headmaster, only for Glynda to stand and raise a riding-crop, freezing the table in the air.

Tex ran under it and slammed his feet into the door again, finally breaking it down and somersaulting onto his feet as he ended up in a hallway... Surrounded by armed guards that all had guns aimed for his head.

Tex cursed under his breath as Glynda and Ozpin ran out of the room, raising their weapons. Ozpin glared, his brown eyes cold.

"Stand down, Texas!" He ordered. Tex rolled his eyes and turned around to face Ozpin and Glynda, raising his hands. "Take off the helmet." Texas made no move to comply. "Take off the helmet, now!" Texas gestured for the guards to leave, and Ozpin's eyes narrowed, but he ordered the men to depart.

Tex gazed at Ozpin and Glynda, then slowly reached with both hands and grabbed the bottom of his helmet. There was a slight hiss, revealing the helmet to also have an air-filter, and the helmet was removed...

"What?" Glynda asked, stunned. "That's not possible!" Ozpin's eyes widened, and he lowered his cane, grabbing Glynda's wrist so she would lower her riding-crop, both of them astonished.

"Surprise, motherfuckers." Tex smirked, crossing her arms. Tex was, in fact, a seventeen year-old girl with her blonde hair held in a high ponytail, her green eyes filled with wicked mischievousness. The two professors stared. "Well? What now?"

"You're a child?!" Glynda finally asked. At this Tex rolled her eyes and sighed, bowing and shaking her head and loudly _tsk_ ing.

"See, that's why I wear the helmet and the voice-filter." The mercenary began. "It's kinda embarrassing, learning you got your ass handed to you by what you refer to as a _kid_."

"... You mean to say that the deadliest, most brutal, mean-?"

"Whoa, whoa!" Tex raised her hands, frowning. "I wouldn't say I'm _mean_. I just get hired to do mean things. It's all a matter of survival, a way to keep me running." Ozpin raised an eyebrow, frowning.

"And what would a young woman such as yourself be running from?"

"The very people you threatened to send me back to, not so long ago."

"What?"

"Atlas." Tex growled. "If you so much as try to send me back to those maniacs, I swear-!" Ozpin raised his hands in surrender, his expression growing concerned.

"Calm down... What is your name?"

"Why? So you can report me to Ironwood and Schnee and Polendina and Price and the Director and all those other psychopaths?!"

"No, so I may be able to address the young girl in front of me properly." Ozpin assured. "What is your name?" Tex glared, then...

"Allison." She replied coldly, yet sounding a small bit unsure. Ozpin nodded, slowly approaching and placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder.

"It's going to be alright, Allison. Why don't you tell us what's going on? We may be able to help you."

"... I am Allison Beta, code-name Agent Texas, the final byproduct of _Project Freelancer_." Texas looked up, eyes narrowing. "And I was the only one who managed to escape."

 ** _/\_**

 _Allison cracked her knuckles, three beaten people in similar armor laying behind her on the training-room floor. Two of them wore white, one wore gold._

 _"Well?" She asked, looking at two people cloaked in shadows. "Send her in. I'm ready to fight Carolina."_

 _"No, you're not." The shorted of the two replied with a calming tone. "Agent Texas, you still require more training before you could stand even a remote chance against Agent Carolina."_

 _"Well... Tell that to Maine, Wyoming, and York." Allison looked behind her as the three recovered, smirking. "Your sacrifices were pointless!"_

 _"You suck, Tex!"_

 _"That's enough!" The taller of the men glared. Allison rolled her eyes and raised her arms frown her sides._

 _"Director, sir, no offense, but we're_ _teenagers_ _." She commented, letting her arms drop. "If you didn't want sarcastic assholes in your program, you should have waited until we were older... Though York probably still would have been a sarcastic asshole."_

 _"Hey!"_

 _"And Wyoming would still tell shitty knock-knock jokes."_

 _"Texas, as soon as I get feeling back in my legs-!"_

 _"And Maine... Well, I can't really complain about Maine. He doesn't really say much, does he?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Sorry, guys." Allison laughed, walking over and helping each of them up. "I give you each the permission to call me_ _ **rotten bitch**_ _for the rest of the day."_

 _"Rotten bitch."_

 _"Rotten bitch."_

 _"Rotten bitch."_

 _"Oh, so now you're talking?"_

 _"Agent Texas." The shorter man tried, raising a hand. "Your time will come. You just have to be patient." The taller man scoffed, crossing his arms._

 _"That was never one of her strong suits."_

 ** _/\_**

"Escape?" Ozpin asked, confused. "What do you mean? Escape what?" Allison looked down, closing her eyes and clenching her fists.

"The experiments."

 ** _/\_**

 _"The implantation of an AI will prove beneficial in combat." The shorter man, Councilor Price, assured as Allison laid on an operating table. "You will stand more than a chance against Agent Carolina. In fact, she'll probably be struggling to earn a fight with you."_

 _"I-I'm not sure about this. No one else has gotten one yet. Are you sure that it's safe?"_

 _"... Induce anesthesia."_

 _"Wait, what?!" Allison moved to sit up, only for a blue light to start pulsing over the table, her eyelids sagging as she was forced to lay down, again. Within seconds, she was unconscious._

 ** _/\_**

"Experiments?" Glynda asked. "What do you mean by that?" Texas looked up, her green eyes narrowed in rage.

"They used us, all of us, just to serve their needs."

 ** _/\_**

 _Allison opened her eyes, and everything was a grayish blur. Then, the grey condensed into a wispy, stormy figure in Freelancer armor._

 _"_ _ **Hello, Agent Texas.**_ _" A male voice spoke, sounding like its owner was smirking. "_ _ **My name is Omega. I am the AI that was assigned to you.**_ _" Allison blinked a few times._

 _"C-can anyone else see you?"_

 _"_ _ **I can project myself in the physical world, yes. But currently, I am in your mind and projecting myself onto your vision... How are you adjusting?**_ _"_

 _"Headache..."_

 _"_ _ **That is normal.**_ _" The AI admitted. "_ _ **It should pass in a few moments.**_ _" Allison nodded numbly, then sat up on her cot and looked around._

 _"T-they made me have the surgery. Why would they do that?"_

 _"_ _ **They are simply trying to make you stronger. Invincible, untouchable, undauntable.**_ _" The AI crossed his arms, giving a low chuckle. "_ _ **With me at your side, you will send your opponents into OBLIVION!**_ _"_

 _"... I'm listening."_

 ** _/\_**

"Their goal was to fulfill the dreams of a madman. They didn't care what it took or who they hurt."

 ** _/\_**

 _"Carolina!" Allison kneeled next to a collapsed figure in aqua armor, eyes widening behind her visor. She looked up at Price and the Director. "What the Hell is going on?!"_

 _They didn't have a reply for her, they just stared in shock. Most of the other Freelancers were gripping the sides of their head and mumbling something, collapsed on the floor, and Allison looked around with narrowed eyes._

 _"Tex!" An unaffected younger freelancer in grey/yellow armor looked around worriedly, another in light-purple/green tending to one in dark-purple/green behind him. "What's wrong with them?! Is it the AI?!"_

 _"Omega!" Allison growled, and her AI appeared, gripping the sides of his 'head' in pain. "What's going on?!"_

 _"_ _ **The Alpha... Church... Allison...**_ _" The AI mumbled. Allison looked down at the girl in aqua, Carolina, and she cringed as she raised her fist._

 _"Sorry, kid. It's for your own good."_

 ** _/\_**

"They lied to us."

 ** _/\_**

 _ **:Agent Texas... Allison... If you're reading this, then that means I escaped. Or, well at the very least, I'm probably not around anymore.:**_ _A girl in brown armor smiled sadly._ _ **:I wanted to leave behind all the data I've been collecting about Project Freelancer. I never could shake the feeling that something was wrong the program; the secrets, the lies, the manipulation. Smoke. All of it. Obscuring a big damn fire. I did some digging, and now I know what the Director has been hiding. What he did... He broke the law, Allison. The one law they don't just slap you on the wrist for. I'm taking the originals with me as an insurance policy. I leave this copy for you not because you are the best solider in the squad, but because I know that I can trust you the most. After reading these files you will understand why. Good luck. Your friend, Connie.:**_

 _Allison stared as the message ended and several files popped up, then her eyes narrowed dangerously._

 _ **AI Experimentation**_ _._

 _ **Mission Logs**_ _._

 _ **Personnel Files**_ _._

 _ **Financials**_ _._

 _ **Video Surveillance**_ _._

 _Allison opened the_ _ **AI Experimentation**_ _file, her eyes widening as she found a description of the mysterious_ _Alpha_ _AI. He was real..._

 _Allison scrolled to the next file on_ _Beta_ _, but that one was password-protected. The rest of them weren't, and Allison began learning about the other AI._

 _ **Omega**_ _ **: rage/anger.**_

 _ **Gamma**_ _ **: deceit.**_

 _ **Delta**_ _ **: logic.**_

 _ **Theta**_ _ **: trust.**_

 _ **Sigma**_ _ **: ambition/creativity.**_

 _ **Iota**_ _ **: fear.**_

 _ **Eta**_ _ **: happiness.**_

 _ **Epsilon**_ _ **: unknown.**_

 _Allison scrolled back to the Beta profile, and something compelled her to type something into the password bar._ _ **A-L-L-I-S-O-N**_ _._

 _"... What?!"_

 ** _/\_**

"They lied to me."

 ** _/\_**

 _Allison marched down a hallway, whipping out her SMGs as she approached some sort of vault-door. A soldier reached out to stop her._

 _"Agent Texas-" The man yelled in pain as Allison raised an SMG and shot him, punching the door and breaking it down, stepping inside. She briefly looked behind her, seeing someone in gold/brown armor and nodding. "Buy me some time. As much as you can."_

 _"Tex, are you sure about this?" York asked, sounding like he was frowning. "What all did C.T. tell you?" Allison clenched her fists._

 _"... Everything."_

 ** _/\_**

"They turned friend against friend."

 ** _/\_**

 _"It's over, Carolina!" Allison glared as Carolina recovered on the floor. The aqua-wearing Freelancer looked up, livid as she forced herself to her feet._

 _"No! I can beat you!"_

 _"No, you can't!" Allison snapped, then held a hand out. "But you can come with me, Carolina."_

 _That's when an explosion went off._

 ** _/\_**

"And when I escaped and tried to rescue someone I cared about..."

 ** _/\_**

 _Allison's eyes widened in horror as she gazed at a room filled with synthetic bodies and AI-units._

 _She slowly walked down the line of synthetic bodies in pods, her hand running over their names._

 _ **Gamma.**_

 _ **Theta.**_

 _ **Delta.**_

 _ **Iota.**_

 _ **Eta.**_ _This body was the first to make Allison pause. It looked like a young girl, her hair short and orange with a freckled face and a look of pure innocence._

 _The next two also gave Allison pause due to the surprising similarities of their physical features._

 _ **Epsilon.**_ _This body had black hair and light stubble on his chin, his body athletic in build and his face set in a serene expression._

 _ **Omega.**_ _This body had messier black hair and a slightly more grown-out stubble on his chin, his body muscled and his face slightly troubled._

 _"What do we do, Omega?" Allison asked, turning to see two live AI-units. Epsilon and Alpha._

 _"_ _ **Place Epsilon in his body, but do not wake him.**_ _" Omega appeared in the air next to Allison. "_ _ **Place the Alpha in my body, wake him, and destroy the failsafes that would allow them to reverse the transfer-processes.**_ _" At this, Allison's eyes widened._

 _"What?! Omega, if I put the Alpha in your body, you'll never-"_

 _"_ _ **Allison, I'm perfectly happy as I am, partnered with someone strong enough to both support me... And stop me.**_ _" The AI gave a small, light chuckle. "_ _ **Besides, he's the Alpha. I owe my existence to him... It's time I do him a favor.**_ _"_

 _"... Softy."_

 _"_ _ **Die in oblivion.**_ _"_

 ** _/\_**

"There wasn't anything left of him to save. I took too long. I failed him."

 ** _/\_**

 _Allison caught the synthetic-boy as he fell, kneeling on the floor with his upper-body resting on her lap, her right arm holding him in a sitting-position as her left hand reached up to his face._

 _"Alpha?" Allison asked. There was no response. "Alpha?" No reply. "Alpha, it's me. It's Tex, Beta." The young boy shifted slightly, and Allison sighed, looking down. "..._ _ **Church**_ _, it's me. It's_ _ **Allison**_ _." At this, the boy's eyes fluttered open; and he weakly looked up._

 _"Allison?"_

 _"Yes, it's me." Allison smiled, relieved. The boy still seemed confused._

 _"Tex?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"They told me you were... They said you were_ _dead_ _."_

 _"I'm not dead, Church. I'm right here. It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of this place."_

 _"No, I, um..."_

 _"... You don't want to leave?"_

 ** _/\_**

"He was broken, a shadow of his former self, and so tired..."

 ** _/\_**

 _"I'm just... I'm... Tired. I'm really tired." The Alpha admitted. "I just want some rest. I haven't been able to sleep, lately. Too many... Nightmares..." Allison's eyes teared up, but she bit her lower lip and nodded shakily._

 _"Okay." She whispered, nodding. "You just rest, Church." Allison leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, brushing the hair out of his face. "Don't forget about me."_

 _"I won't... Just do something for me..."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Don't say_ _ **goodbye**_ _..." Alpha's eyes fluttered as he tried to keep them open. "I hate goodbyes..."_

 _"Me, too... But I'm not gone." Allison managed a small smile. "I'm just not here, right now."_

 _Alpha's eyes closed._

 ** _/\_**

"So I had to say _goodbye_. To him..."

 ** _/\_**

 _Allison gently laid the Alpha down on the ground, standing and whipping out her weapons before running._

 _She ran though the base as fast as she could, gunning down anyone who tried to stop her escape. That's when her eyes widened._

 _Maine held a beaten Carolina by the throat on a snowy cliff, clenching her AI chips in his hand and holding her over the white void._

 _"NO!" Allison ran forward as Maine dropped Carolina, her limp body vanishing into the void. Maine took the chips and placed his helmet on, and Allison turned and ran._

 _A flaming-red AI, Sigma, appeared in the air before Maine with a wicked smirk, chuckling darkly._

 _"_ _ **You run, Agent Texas. We are the Meta, and we will find you. Very soon...**_ _"_

 ** _/\_**

"And to many dear friends." Texas sat in a chair across from Ozpin and Glynda, her head bowed and eyes closed. "North, South, York, Wyoming, Wash, Florida, Maine, Carolina, Connie. All of them and the AI suffered just so the Director could try and resurrect his dead wife... Just so he could make me." Texas looked up. "I ran, and I've been running ever since. Trying to get stronger and collect other people's debts so that, one day, I could bring the Director down."

"... May we see Omega?" Ozpin asked, both he and Glynda staring at the girl in astonishment. Texas looked over at her left shoulder.

"He doesn't like that name, anymore." She admitted. "It reminds him too much of what the Director did to him... He likes _O'Malley_ , now."

"Well, then." Glynda crossed her arms, frowning. "May we see _O'Malley_?" Texas nodded, and a stormy-grey soldier appeared, standing on her shoulder and crossing his arms.

" ** _Glynda Goodwitch and the one and only Ozpin._** " The AI commented. " ** _It would be an honor, if you hadn't threatened to send us back to those bastards, earlier._** " Texas gave O'Malley a light glare. " ** _What?! You're just as angry as I am!_** "

"Remarkable." Ozpin stared. "He is the one in charge of running all of your suit's equipment?" Texas nodded, growing a little defensive.

"Yeah, and he's my friend. And I don't take kindly to people looking at him like he's a new toy." She frowned. Ozpin raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry... So, you claim that these Freelancers were being trained so they could enter Atlas Academy and eventually the military."

"That's why Ironwood allowed it and negotiated with the _Schnee Dust Company_ to help them develop our equipment. But the program pretty much used us all as lab-rats to perfect the Director's vision. And no one will ever be free. Connie and Carolina are dead, Wash was driven crazy, Maine was possessed by his AI, and York and North were recaptured. South, Wyoming, and Florida are the Project's lapdogs... And here I am, on the run, and I probably will be for the rest of my life if I want to get away from the Director's twisted mission."

"So, let's get this straight." Goodwitch frowned. "You are an AI fragment of an AI copied from the mind of one of Atlas' greatest minds placed into a synthetic body with another AI fragment as your assistant?"

"Partner." Texas crossed her arms. "He's my partner. When there's a person living inside your head for a year and a half, you get to know him. He's a _manipulative bastard_ -"

" ** _And she's a_** ** _rotten bitch_** ** _._** " O'Malley added. Texas held up a hand, and O'Malley high-fived her, both of them crossing their arms and smirking mischievously. " ** _Mutual understanding: the key to any good partnership._** "

"Allison, O'Malley: I have a proposition for the two of you." Ozpin announced. "How would you like to stop running?" Texas raised an eyebrow.

"As much as anyone in my situation would, but it's not going to happen." The girl looked down, sighing. "Just kill me here or let me go. I'm not going back to Atlas... I would rather die."

"Allison." Ozpin placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You are never going back to those people. I swear it upon my life." Texas looked up. "I can protect you and O'Malley, and I can do my best to help your friends, but only if you let me. If you agree to my terms." Ozpin managed a small smile. "What do you say?"

"... What do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Well... A favor for a favor." Ozpin sat back. "I need you to go undercover and protect a first-year student from outside forces that may seek to harm her." Texas raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to go to your school?"

"Yes, and I want you to protect Ruby Rose... Do we have a deal?"

 ** _Well... What do you think? Do you think I've created a good fusion of_** ** _Red vs. Blue_** ** _and_** ** _RWBY_** ** _? I like it alright, but what about you guys? I was mostly concerned by the severe swearing. I don't usually use F-bombs in my stories, but seeing as how this is_** ** _Red vs. Blue_** ** _, it was necessary._**

 ** _I had to make a few changes, of course, in order to make the two sources compatible. The biggest one is, of course, that EVERYONE'S A TEENAGER! AHHHHHH! Hey, if this is weird for me, then it's definitely going to be weird for you, but please: work with me, here. Secondly, I've made O'Malley as nice as I could manage without wrecking his amazing personality. He's a good guy, here. But being a good guy doesn't mean that he's a_** ** _good guy_** ** _, if you know what I mean._**

 ** _This is a difficult crossover to write, because I need to keep that_** ** _Red vs. Blue_** ** _spirit and that_** ** _RWBY_** ** _spirit while still crating something new and original. If you have any ideas or advice for me, please let me know._**

 ** _I own nothing! Please read,_** ** _review_** ** _, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**


	2. Allison O'Malley (Ruby)

It was my first day at Beacon, and things had started out amazing! The school was awesome, there were all kinds of weapons, and I was confident in my skills in not meeting new people! That all went downhill fast. Yang ditched me, this mean girl yelled at me, and I exploded a crater in the courtyard!

"I'm really, really sorry!"

"Oh, you complete dolt!"

"Hey, _Ice-Queen_!" A voice shouted. The mean-girl and I stared as the new arrival approached, and I felt myself slowly grow afraid.

"Oh no..."

It was a girl with long blonde hair in a messy ponytail and cold green eyes. She wore black boots with buckled straps, black leggings with corset-like designs on the front of the legs, several crossed black belts with silver buckles that held the black sheaths for some sort of twin-guns, a black strap across her body, a black leather jacket with short silver spikes on the right shoulder, a black/grey-camouflaged t-shirt, and a long black scarf hung loosely double-wrapped around her neck with the tattered tails trailing behind her. She slowly smirked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow as her eyes locked onto Weiss.

"Back away from _Little Red_ , and no one gets hurt."

Wait, what?!

"T-this is none of your business!" The mean girl in white shouted. The girl in black and grey raised an eyebrow, walking over.

"Is that so?" She asked, almost demanding Mean-Girl to challenge her. "Well, I'm making it my business. Lay off the kid, and maybe I won't mess up that pretty little face, _Princess_."

"It's heiress, actually." A girl in black and white walked over with a fallen flask of red fire-Dust. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the _Schnee Dust Company_ : one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally, some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor-forces and questionable business-partners." The golden-eyed girl glared. I giggled and the green-eyed girl smirked as Weiss stuttered, then Weiss glared and snatched the bottle away, storming off.

"That's right, _Princess_!" The girl in black and grey yelled after her, laughing. "Run back home to Daddy!" I turned and saw the girl in black and white leaving, and I looked up at the girl who first came to my aid turning to me.

"Um... Thanks?"

"No problem." The girl nodded, grinning slyly. "That was fun." She extended a hand. "Allison O'Malley." I timidly reached out and shook her hand.

"Ruby Rose."

"Hmm... I think I'm going to stick with calling you _Little Red_." The girl smiled mischievously. "See you around, kid." She walked off, and I looked around before falling to the ground, sighing in defeat.

"Welcome to Beacon..."

"Hey." A voice spoke, and I opened my eyes to see a boy extending a hand to help me up. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." I took his hand, and Jaune pulled me to my feet. "... Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

 ** _/\_**

Jaune and I walked around and talked for a while, then we headed to the auditorium to hear Professor Ozpin's opening speech. I looked around at all of the people, wondering where Weiss, Yang, Allison, and the girl in black were...

"Hey, Ruby!" I heard a shout and looked to see Yang waving wildly from the crowd. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh!" I looked at Jaune. "I've got to go! I'll see you after the ceremony!" I ran over to Yang, only to tense up when I saw who was standing next to her.

"Ruby, meet Allison!" Yang grinned, gesturing to the other blonde. "She is so awesome! She saw these guys hooting at me and-"

"Smashed their faces in." Allison finished, smirking and crossing her arms. "Hello, Ruby." I waved timidly.

"Hey, Allison..."

"You've met?" Yang asked in surprise. I nodded shakily, still intimidated by the powerful-looking girl in black and grey. I didn't know why I was so scared, since she had been nice to me...

"Yep." Allison agreed. " _Little Red_ and I go back at least... What do you say? Thirty minutes?"

"Y-yeah. Around thirty."

"What's got you so nervous?" Allison asked. "Sure, you exploded in the front courtyard and embarrassed yourself on the first day, but hey: at least we pissed off the _Ice Queen_."

"Uh..." Yang raised an eyebrow. "What's this about exploding?" Yang looked at me, giving a light smirk. "Meltdown already?" I stomped my foot.

"No! I really exploded! And there was fire, and I think some ice..."

"Not in the Dust." Allison added. "Just in the _Ice Queen_." Yang raised her eyebrow further.

"... Are you being sarcastic?"

"No!" I stamped my foot. "After you ditched me, I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled at me again! And I just really, really wanted her to stop yelling at me, but-!"

"YOU- AH!"

I jumped into Yang's arms and readied to scream, only to see Allison grabbing Weiss by the ponytail, her green eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Didn't I tell you once today not to mess with the kid, _Princess_?" Allison asked. "I have one more thing to tell you before you turn around and walk away, maybe with your scalp intact: I don't give second chances." For some reason, I had a feeling that Allison wanted to add an _anymore_ to that.

"I-I know what you're doing!" Weiss glared, Allison raised an eyebrow. "I know your type! You're one of those people who expects payment for what they do! You want her-!" Me. "To owe you something!" I frowned, and Allison turned to me with something in her expression. A simple question.

 ** _Can you believe this chick?_**

"Tell me, Little Red." Allison grinned slyly, giving Weiss a pointed look. "Do you have any lien on you?" I shook my head. "Do you have any favors you could do that could benefit me?"

"P-probably not!"

"Well, _Princess_... It looks like I'm still holding you by the hair." Allison smirked in victory. "So, either say you're _sorry_ to the kid and run along, or I'll make sure that you never run again."

"Maybe you all just got off on the wrong foot." Yang tried, sounding uncomfortable while she attempted to force some optimism into the situation. "Why don't you just start over and try to be friends?" Allison looked at Yang with a solid deadpan, releasing Weiss' hair.

"You're joking, right?"

"Well..." I looked at Weiss. "I'm willing to try if you are." I turned and held my hand out, smiling. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! We can go shopping for school supplies-!"

"Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and-!"

"Talk with enough sarcasm to kill a Goodwitch." Allison commented dryly. Weiss fumed while Yang and I actually laughed.

"I'll keep this brief." We looked up to see Professor Ozpin on the stage at the microphone, Professor Goodwitch standing off to the side. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you're finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction." Allison's fists clenched, her eyes narrowing. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far... It is up to you to take the first step." Professor Goodwitch took the stage as Ozpin left.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, and tomorrow your initiation begins... Be ready. You are dismissed."

"... Well, that wasn't cryptic or anything." Allison crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow as she watched Ozpin leave. Yang was frowning, too.

"Yeah. It was strange. Almost like he wasn't even there."

"Wonder what was bothering him." I mumbled, then I looked back at Weiss, giving a nervous wave. "Um... Hi?"

The heiress scoffed, turned, and walked off. I looked down, only for a hand to rest on my shoulder. I looked up, expecting to see Yang, only to be met with cold green instead of kind lilac. But slowly, Allison's eyes softened, and she frowned down at me with something that was either pity or sympathy.

"You don't need her, kid." Allison looked up, her narrowed eyes tracking Weiss. "Trust me when I say that people like that aren't worth your time."

"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "There's, like, a hundred other first-years, here! You're bound to make friends with at least one of them!"

"W-well, there is Jaune-"

"Jaune?" Yang asked, placing her hands on her hips as her eyes narrowed. "A boy?" I found myself looking to Allison for help, only to find that she was holding Jaune off the ground by the hood of his hoodie, smirking as the boy struggled, his eyes wide and expression terrified.

"I don't know, Yang." She spoke up, Yang turning around. "Is it a boy?"

 ** _/\_**

After I got Yang to get Allison to put Jaune down, the four of us took our remaining time before bed to wander around Beacon. Every student we passed, Allison seemed to size up. Then again, Yang did it to.

While those two spoke or judged the 'competition', as Yang put it (Allison claimed that there was no competition, with a smirk), I talked to Jaune about weapons and fighting and Grimm. Stuff like that. He seemed kinda uneasy, but I couldn't put my finger on why. After all, if he was good enough to make it into Beacon, the greatest combat-school ever, he was going to be fine.

"So, wait..." Allison raised an eyebrow. "You were the one who blew up Junior's nightclub?" Yang smirked, crossing her arms and nodding.

"You bet!"

"Does that mean that you're also the one who crushed his d-?" Allison raised an eyebrow as Yang covered her mouth, laughing nervously as Jaune and I looked back. Jaune had gone a ghostly pale, and I was confused.

"Yes, that was me! Now, drop the subject!"

 ** _/\_**

That night, we went to the ballroom and got ready for bed, saying goodbye to Jaune for the night. Well, Yang and I said _goodbye_ or _goodnight_. Allie just gave a small nod.

"Yang?" I looked over at my sister as we got ready in the bathroom. Allie was taking a shower in a stall several yards away. The bathroom was huge... "What do you think of Allie?"

"Are you kidding me?! She's awesome! I mean, she beats down pervs, she has a good sense of humor, and she's been looking out for you! What more could you ask for?!"

"But why?! Why is she looking out for me?!"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask?"

"I, uh..?"

"... You're not scared of Allie, are you?"

"No, no!" I raised my hands, then sighed and lowered them. "I just... I don't understand. Why do this? Why do any of this? It doesn't make any sense..."

"What doesn't make any sense?" A voice asked. We looked back to see Allison walking up, a towel wrapped around her as she wrung her hair out with her hands like a rag. Yang suddenly gasped and grabbed Allie by the shoulders, making her sit down on a bench.

"What did you just do?!"

"Huh?"

"Your hair! Why are you treating it so badly?!"

"Uh... Is there some specific way I'm supposed to be treating it?"

"You can't just wring it out like that! You have to brush it and dry it! You have to take care of it!"

"Um..." Allison looked really confused. I considered helping her, but I decided not to bring the wrath of Yang down on myself (again). "If you're going to treat this like such a big deal, I'll just cut it or-"

"Don't-!" Yang's eyes flashed red. "Even joke about that." Allison's eyes darted over to me for an explanation, and I just smiled nervously and shrugged. "We are going to fix this, now!"

"... Can I get dressed, first?" Allison asked as Yang went and grabbed her hair-care supplies, my eyes following my older sister. Yang shook her head, both of us ignoring some sort of blue flash of light from behind us.

"No! We have to-!" Yang and I looked back to see Allison wearing long black pants and a black/green-camouflage t-shirt, the towel folded and sitting on the bench beside her. "... What?"

"H-how did you-?!"

"How did I what?" Allison asked, then she paused, looking to her left for some reason and deadpanning before shaking out of it and looking up at us. "Yang, this'll have to wait. I have to make a call." Allison stood. "I'll meet you guys by the sleeping bags."

Allison turned and started walking off, Yang and I exchanging confused glances before Yang smirked. I quickly shook my head.

"Yang, no. We should give her some privacy-"

"Detectives Xiao-Long and Rose, on the case!"

 ** _/\_**

Yang and I hid around a corner, listening as Allison paced around and talked to someone.

"What do you want?"

" ** _I want to know why you're ignoring me!_** "

"He sounds creepy." I commented, raising an eyebrow. "Like some kind of mad scientist or crazy doctor."

"I'm ignoring you because you're being a pest."

" ** _A pest?! A PEST?! You insult me! I'll have you know that I have been trying to be a downright nuisance!_**"

"I definitely like this guy." Yang grinned. "I wonder how old he is." I shot a glare at my sister. "Kidding, kidding!"

"Well, you can't try to talk to me while I'm around other people. If I keep this up, they'll think I'm crazy or something."

" _ **If they call you** crazy **, WE SHALL SEND THEM INTO OBLIVION!**_ "

"O'Malley!"

" ** _Kidding, kidding! ... Mostly._** "

"His name's _O'Malley_?" I frowned. "That's a weird first name. And the same as Allison's last name?" Yang shrugged, looking at me.

"A coincidence?"

"... He sure sounds like you."

"I know, right?!"

"Look, O'Malley, you're just going to have to calm down. I'd like to let people get to know me before they know how messed up my life is."

" ** _Hmm... Very well. But I'm not sure how much I like you warming up to these people. I don't trust them._** "

"You don't trust anyone."

" ** _That's not true!_** "

"I don't count."

" ** _... Shut up._** "

"I'll talk to you later. Right now, I have to go and make sure Ruby doesn't blow anything else up and keep Yang from tearing my hair out."

" ** _Ah, yes. You've had quite the eventful day, haven't you?_** "

"You have no idea..."

" ** _You know that I do._** "

The footsteps started heading toward us, and Yang and I quickly ran to our sleeping bags to wait for Allison.

 ** _/\_**

The rest of the night was spent with in series of strange conversations and events. I wrote a letter to my friends back at Signal, Yang lectured me on friends, Yang and I introduced ourselves to Blake (the girl in black who helped Allison and I against Weiss), and Yang got into a fight with Weiss.

As Yang and I laid down (me between Yang and Allison, Allison's back facing me) and started to go to sleep, I noticed a strange glow from near Allison's face. It was dark-grey, and it seemed to absorb what little light was in the room.

I raised an eyebrow, then shrugged it off and closed my eyes. Allison was probably doing something on her scroll.

 ** _/\/\/\/\_**

The next morning, we woke up and got ready for initiation before heading down to the locker rooms. Yang and I discussed teams and meeting new people, Allison leaning against the lockers and watching us with a raised eyebrow.

We noticed a calm boy in green and an energetic girl in pink talking, Weiss talking to Pyrrha Nikos: the four-time Mistral Champion, and Jaune trying to flirt with Weiss. Weiss finally asked Pyrrha to intervene, but when Pyrrha threw her spear, it was suddenly snatched it out of the air.

"Hmm." Allison looked down at the spear in her hand, raising an eyebrow. "Excellent craftsmanship. I'm detecting javelin, spear, and... Rifle?" Pyrrha slowly nodded, her eyes wide. Jaune collapsed behind Allison from shock.

"That's right." Pyrrha spoke up, and Allison blinked a few times in surprise as she looked up and actually saw Pyrrha, her eyes widening. Pyrrha held a hand out, and Allison put the weapon in her hand. I noticed that her hands were shaking. "Are you alright?"

"C-Carolina?" Allison asked, then shook out of it. "I'm sorry. I-I have to go." Allison turned and quickly left the room, all of us raising eyebrows.

" _Carolina_?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms. "There's actually another person at Beacon who doesn't recognize Pyrrha Nikos?"

"That was weird." I commented, frowning after Allison. Yang nodded, crossing her arms as I went over and helped Jaune to his feet.

"Yeah... Wonder who Carolina is, and why Allison was so freaked out when she thought it was her."

 ** _/\_**

Later, on the cliffs...

"For years, you have trained to become warriors." Professor Ozpin began, holding his mug of... Coffee? Tea? What? "Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now..." Goodwitch continued. "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today." My eyes widened.

"WHAT?!"

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you work well. That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin gave a small smirk as people voiced their complaints. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the entire duration of initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately." Simple enough. But something seemed off about the number of students present... "Are there any questions?" Allison raised a hand. "Miss O'Malley?"

"Isn't there an odd number?" Allison asked, frowning. "If we all make it... Where will the extra person go?"

"I'm glad you asked that. There will be one person who will not be assigned a partner or to a particular team. The details will come later, assuming that all of you survive... Any more questions?" Ozpin ignored Jaune's raised hand. "Good. Now, take your positions."

 ** _Well... That was a thing._**

 ** _What did you think of the Pyrrha/Carolina thing? If you liked it, I can have Tex face that same crisis with anyone else she meets. If she meets Taiyang, if she pays more attention to Ozpin and Godwitch's voices, etc._**

 ** _What did you think of Tex's beacon outfit? And what do you think that blue flash was, when she changed clothes? A hint at her semblance? *smirk* What do you think of how I'm portraying her personality? Her attitudes toward Jaune, Ruby, Pyrrha, Weiss, and Yang? How she reacted to the tone of Ozpin's speech?_**

 ** _I'm trying, people! I'm trying! I was working on that prologue for five months before I posted it! Now, I have far less time... That being said, I've completed the next chapter and am currently working on the one after that. It's going alright, and if you didn't like this chapter, it gets FAR better from here._**

 ** _I own nothing! Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**

 ** _P.S: ... "The Soldier" Chibi? XD_**


	3. Initiation (Tex)

I landed on the forest-floor, a crater forming in the earth beneath my feet.

I looked up, glaring as I raised my arms from my sides and opened my hands. The air around my hands pixelated light-blue, and I caught my two SMGs as they fell out of oblivion.

"O'Malley." I spoke, and the AI appeared in my vision. "Activate your GPS, calculate the distance to forest temple, and create a quick route that will allow me to avoid all of the other initiates."

" ** _You're bound and determined to be the solo, aren't you?_** "

"Nope." I smirked. "I've just already found my partner." O'Malley sighed, shaking his head.

" ** _I really do hate you._** "

"No, you don't." The map appeared in my vision. "Well, let's get moving." I started walking through the forest, and O'Malley crossed his arms.

" ** _I still can't believe that you agreed to Ozpin's ridiculous terms._** "

"Hey, if I protect Little Red and take out whoever's gonna come after her, Oz frees our friends. This is our chance to get everyone back, maybe even the Alpha." I looked down, sighing and shaking my head. "To get them back, I'd pay any price." O'Malley was silent for a moment.

" ** _... I do miss them, at times._** " He finally spoke up. " ** _The other AI, I mean._** " I gave a small smile.

"Once we have the other Freelancers and AI, we can rescue Eta and Iota from Maine, maybe even snap Maine out of it... And we'll take care of Sigma."

" ** _WE'LL SEND HIM INTO OBLIVION!_** "

"... Agreed."

 _ **/\**_

I continued walking for a while, hearing gunfire but not encountering any Grimm. Like always, they were attracted to real human beings, despite my negative emotions and my aura, along with the emotions and aura of O'Malley.

Guess they were more fond of biting into flesh than plastic and steel. Wouldn't blame them. If I was a real person, I'd rather eat a steak than a microchip.

Those freakshows in Atlas discover that when they copy a mind, the copy has a soul of its own, and what do they do? They still torture it, fragment it. And like when a natural human or Faunus mind and soul would fragment into other personalities, each personality had its own separate aura and semblance. It didn't make much sense, but what did in a world where we could weild magic-like power through Dust and semblance and children could be experimented on without repercussion?

While I still thought that I was human, I discovered my semblance and named it _Requipping_ **(AN: yes, this is a reference to _Fairy Tail_ 's Erza Scarlet and I could not choose a better name - sue me)**. It allowed me to place whatever was in my hands into an empty pocket-reality of sorts until I needed it and called upon it. I could requip my weapons, and my clothing and armor. I had never tried it on myself or a living being. Who knew if the pocket-reality had air or if I could bring myself back from it? I was able to deduce, from the feel of everything brought out of it, that the pocket-reality was cold. Like, refrigerator or freezer cold.

O'Malley, if he knew his semblance, kept it to himself. Not that it did any harm, anyway. When an AI doesn't have a body to call its own, he or she must be in the mind of a Freelancer or other person in order to use their semblance. And to do this required perfect cooperation between agent and AI, the AI having previously informed the agent of his/her power and practiced in order to allow the agent to utilize the AI's semblance in combat.

For example, Theta had the ability to create explosions from nothing, but he mostly used that power to make fireworks for he and North to watch for fun. The few times that those two had used Theta's full power in combat, the results had been devastatingly effective. And hilarious to watch.

Excuse me for thinking that death by bright, cheery, pink explosion was funny.

I paused, being shaken out of my thoughts as several strange things happened at once. I barely dodged as girl in pink and a boy in green rode past on a thrashing Ursa, a scream split the air as a girl in red and bronze ran through with an angry Elder Death-Stalker on her tail. She hadn't been the one to scream, it was a boy in black, orange, blue, and white who flew overhead as fast as a bullet.

My eyes widened as I saw the girl's resemblance with Carolina, but as quickly as she came, she and the beast were gone, crashing through the forest. It took me a moment to process that the girl was Pyrrha, not Carolina. Why did I keep confusing her for..?

I shook out of my daze as a Giant Nevermore flew overhead with the sounds of two girls screaming at the top of their lungs and a tiny red shape falling from it.

"... What?" I finally asked. O'Malley shook out of it.

" ** _Are all... Of these people... Completely... INSANE?!_** "

"You're one to talk, _Mr. Oblivion_. But yes, this is a bit... Much."

" ** _Much? MUCH?! These people are psychopaths! Lets just cut our losses and save the others ourselves!_**"

"And what if Ozpin decides to retalitate and tell Ironwood we're coming?"

" ** _... I really don't like you._** "

"Uh-huh... Let's go."

I started running toward the screams, my eyes narrowing. What had I gotten myself into?

 _ **/\**_

I burst out of the forest to see a small bullet of red flying across the field at the Death Stalker as several initiates watched with wide eyes. I noticed the Nevermore flying overhead, my eyes narrowing.

"O'Malley, speed!" I shouted as I requipped my speed-booster, knowing I was too far away to be heard. I felt my limbs fill with energy and charged, heading Ruby Rose off and catching her scythe with my bare hand as she accidentally swung it at me. In that same moment, before she noticed, I placed the speed-booster back into the pocket-universe. I glared at the girl. "Are you suicidal, kid?!" Ruby's silver eyes widened in surprise.

"Allison?!"

"In the flesh." I smirked, then looked up with a frown as the Death-Stalker and Nevermore surged toward us. "Get back with the others. I've got this handled." Ruby shook her head.

"No! I can help! I can do this!"

"... I have no doubts about that." I lied, forcing a smile. "But those idiots are going to need someone strong to lead them to the cliffs. I'll hold these guys off for as long as I can, then catch up." I raised my SMGs. "Go."

"But-!"

"GO!" I ordered. Ruby still hesitated, and I looked up as the Death-Stalker moved to bat us aside with its claw. I grabbed Ruby by the hood and pulled her aside, resigning myself to abandon the fight and drag her back to the others. Yang ran forward to meet us, and O'Malley appeared in my vision as the Death-Stalker gave chase.

" ** _I TOLD YOU THAT THIS JOB WOULD GET US KILLED!_** "

' _Shut up!_ ' I thought, knowing he could "hear" it. Suddenly, the Nevermore launched its feathers. I shoved Ruby out of the way, batting a few aside as I looked to see her recovering, Yang having been stopped by the projectiles. "Fuck!" I grabbed one of the feathers and pitched it at the Death-Stalker, striking it in the eye.

I was starting to feel in over my head. Destroying one of these monsters solo would be simple, but taking on two at once with the low ground and no armor was tricky. And since I had people to protect, it became even trickier. I may have been a Freelancer, the best left alive and maybe the best there ever was, but it would be suicidal to try and bring these down by myself. Especially with the attribute I inherited from Alpha.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted helplessly in her feathery trap as the Death-Stalker turned from me to attack the fifteen year-old as she recovered and stood. "Get out of there!" Ruby looked up with wide eyes, and I noticed a flash of white racing from the far end of the field toward us. The Schnee.

Our eyes locked and narrowed, the same hatred still present in both of us, then I gritted my teeth, and we both managed to nod in agreement. I turned around, requipped my speed-booster again, and super-sped towars the Death-Stalker, running in perfect sync with Weiss as she arrived, and she drove her blade into the ground as I leapt into the air and landed on the quickly-forming ice-wall, using it as a boost as it caught the Death-Stalker's stinger, getting launched into the air. In that moment, I once again placed the speed-booster back into the pocket-universe, swapping it for the strength-booster.

I yelled in rage as O'Malley boosted my strength, and I came crashing down on the Death-Stalker's back fist first, actually managing to knock the giant out cold. I leapt off as Weiss gave Ruby a proper scolding, sending my strength-booster back into the pocket-universe, and Yang came over to hug her sister before looking at me and nodding in thanks, smiling. I gave a small nod back, then walked over to Ruby, crossing my arms, and I gave a light glare as I looked down at her.

What a rookie. She reminded me of Wash...

"Next time I tell you to go and lead the others out of here, try to listen." I stated. Then, I walked past the sisters and toward the forest temple, ready to complete my 'first' mission.

 _ **/\**_

I picked up a small relic. It seemed to be a combination between two types of chess-pieces, a White Rook and a White Knight, and it was the only one of its kind. Ozpin had sealed my fate.

I looked up as Ruby grabbed a White Knight for herself and Weiss and Jaune grabbed a White Rook for himself and Pyrrha, then noticed Ren and Nora with a White Rook and Yang and Blake with a White Knight. I frowned, looking down at my chess-piece with narrowed eyes.

How could he know which ones they would choose?

"It's time we left." Ren announced as the Death-Stalker woke and started to struggle, the Nevermore circling back. Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Right. Let's go!"

With that, we started running for the cliffs.

 _ **/\**_

We arrived at some ancient-looking ruins, ducking behind a wall as the Nevermore landed on them and the Death-Stalker catching up. I reloaded the ammo in my SMGs, rolling my eyes.

"This isn't good." I muttered under my breath. Ren looked over at Nora as the Death-Stalker caught up and we had to keep running.

"Nora, distract it!"

"Got it!" Nora nodded, running out and drawing a silver and pink grenade launcher, running out and dodging the Nevermore's feathers before firing at the bird, striking it with her grenades and making it fly up into the air again. Nora looked back as the Death-Stalker moved to strike, only for Ren and Blake to intervene, Weiss appearing and getting the pink-wearing girl out of the way.

I watched, leaning against the ruins with my arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. How were they already working so well as a team? Wasn't everyone just arguing, panicking, and having mental-breakdowns a few minutes earlier? This didn't make any logical sense...

Or did it?

Back in Project Freelancer, most of our "free days" were spent arguing. South arguing with North about never getting a chance to shine, Carolina arguing with me about who was better (not that I cared, but she was persistent), Maine giving everyone the finger when he got pissed off, York being his usual sarcastic self, Connie arguing with Wash about the Project. The Triplets (before they went missing) were always arguing about something. Georgia, before he died in the field, was a bit of an asshole. And everyone hated Wyoming's shitty knock-knock jokes, but Gamma was to blame for that. Mostly.

But despite all of that arguing, we worked as a perfect team out on the field. We didn't even have to speak (though we did occasionally make witty remarks and say cheesy one-liners), we were just that close. That connected, even though most of us didn't know that much about each other. Hell, I didn't even know myself.

A small smile briefly flashed across my face, then I shook out of it and ran with the others toward the bridge, briefly requipping and using my speed-booster to catch up with Yang and Ruby. I placed the booster back into the pocket-universe, really wishing that I didn't have to keep everything that was useful to me a secret.

But hey, as Ozpin had pointed out while giving me all the instruction and information I'd need while attending Beacon and protecting Ruby, the type of equipment I used was Atlas advanced military-grade. Top-secret. Obvious property of Project Freelancer, should a high-ranking Altesian Military member see it. If I was caught with it, there would be a lot of questions raised. Then again, even more questions would be raised if I was 'damaged' on the field. And if I was damaged, all secrets aside, I doubted that Ozpin had any friends in Vale capable of repairing my synthetic body, and I'd be damned before I turned back to Polendina.

I had a better chance of explaining the equipment than the fact that I was a walking hunk of metal, since I was pretty crafty when it came to lies, so if I was caught, I could claim that I built the equipment off of black-market blueprints. People (like Weiss) would be pissed, but they'd eventually forget it. So, if worse came to worse and I was about to be damaged or my mission was about to fail (Ruby about to die), I'd reveal my equipment. My healing-unit, most likely. It was specially-made by the Director and capable of healing humans/Faunus and repairing me to some extent. But it could only do so much.

I was not about to die, and I was not about to fail this mission. Wash, Wyoming, South, Florida, York, North, the AI, and maybe even Maine's lives depended on it. And Ruby's life, I guessed. And, I supposed, I shouldn't let anything particularly bad happen to Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, or Ren. That wouldn't go over well with the survivors, or Ozpin.

We ran across the bridge, only for the Nevermore to swoop down and take it out. As it flew past, I leapt onto its back, looking over as Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha faced the Death-Stalker by themselves. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, and Nora had crossed the bridge.

I rolled my eyes, then stood (spikes on the bottoms of my boots digging into the bird's flesh), raising my SMGs and firing like mad at the things's head. The bird screeched in pain as some of the feathers were torn away and its head started bleeding, but before my Dust-rounds could pierce the skull, the bird flew under the remnants of the bridge and knocked me off. As I fell, I noticed Blake falling and landing on the bird, hacking at it with her weapons.

Jaune and Nora had joined Ren and Pyrrha against the Death-Stalker in her place.

"O'Malley!" I shouted. "Get ready to operate the jetpack!"

" ** _Ready!_** "

"NOW!" I requipped the jetpack onto my back, and O'Malley turned it on. I flew up onto the broken segment of bridge and ran across, placing the jetpack into the pocket-universe as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang fired like mad at the Nevermore, only for the bird to crash into the suspended temple and take it out.

The four leapt across the rubble, and I ran over to them as they made it back onto the bridge.

"Allison!" Yang grinned, punching my shoulder. "You had me worried for a second, there."

"Please." I rolled my eyes. "It would take a lot more than that to bring me down."

"Well..." Yang gestured to two pillars. "Wanna help me buy some time? Ruby's got a plan."

"... We're all going to die."

 _ **/\**_

Yang and I stood on top of the pillars as Ruby spoke with Blake and Weiss, and we fired our weapons like madwomen as the Nevermore circled around us. I mostly aimed for the eyes, while Yang... Yang was pretty much going for the whole thing, screaming her head off as she went.

The Nevermore turned and flew at us, and Yang suddenly leapt up into its mouth. My eyes widened.

"Son of a-!"

"I-! HOPE-!" Yang had landed in the beak and propped it open with her legs and one arm, using the other fist to fire Dust-rounds down the Nevermore's throat. "YOU'RE-! HUN-! GRY-!" Yang leapt out of the beak as the monster crashed into the cliffs, landing on the bridge as Weiss flew forward and froze the Nevermore's tail to a remaining piece of ruin.

I leapt down onto the bridge as the other four constructed a giant slingshot, Ruby climbing in with her scythe as Weiss prepared to fire her at the Nevermore. My eyes narrowed, and I had O'Malley do the math. The aim was precise, and if Ruby used the recoil from her sniper-rifle, she would make it. Then, Weiss could use her glyphs to allow the fifteen year-old to run up the cliff with the help of her semblance and recoil, effectively slicing something off.

It was the most suicidal plan I had encountered since my days at Project Freelancer... And it was probably going to work.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"Hey, Red!" I shouted, Ruby looking up at me. "You want to be an effective Huntress?! Lesson one: aim for the jugular vein! The one place that hurts all of Remnant's creatures if hit just right!" Ruby blinked a few times, then smirked and nodded, Weiss finally firing her from the giant slingshot... At the exact same moment that I realized that I had just allowed the one chance I had of saving my friends and getting revenge on those who wrong us to be launched at a screeching monster over a seemingly-bottomless void.

Fuck.

Ruby made it to the Nevermore, hooking her scythe around the beast's throat. Weiss summoned a line of glyphs, and Ruby let out a yell of effort as she ran up the cliffs, dragging the Nevermore with her. Ruby made it to the top, and with one final tug, she severed the monster's head, sending the decapitated corpse tumbling into the void as the head dissolved into red rose-petals, which swirled around Ruby before blowing away in the wind.

"Well..." Yang looked around at Weiss, Blake, and I as we looked up at Ruby, the blonde taking some deep breaths as she recovered from the fight. "That was a thing."

"... Shut up, Yang."

 _ **/\**_

That night, I watched from the crowd as Team JNPR and Team RWBY were formed, then...

"Allison O'Malley." Ozpin announced. It was all silent as I slowly walked up onto the stage, making sure to keep my face expressionless as I crossed my arms, facing the headmaster. I was making it very clear: I'm a badass. Don't fuck with me. "You retrieved the combination piece from the Temple. A piece that was half White Rook, half White Knight. From this day forth, you shall serve as a part-time member of Team RWB(A)Y and Team JNP(A)R, assisting them on missions and in combat-class when needed but for the most part remaining an independent entity... I expect great things from you."

"Don't get your hopes up." I replied quietly with a light smirk as the crowd, especially Team RWBY and Team JNPR, applauded. I turned and left the stage, looking down as I got a message depicting my schedule and my room assignment.

My dorm was right next to Team RWBY's, and a note from Ozpin told me how to open a secret passage between the two rooms in case of emergencies and that my charging-station was hidden under the bed. My schedule was the same as Ruby's, save one extra thing tagged onto the end.

I was to meet Ozpin and Goodwitch after class every other day. What was so important that they would need to speak to me that often? I shrugged it off, figuring that there was still a good chance that they didn't trust me. Despite my reasons, I was still a wanted murderer, after all.

 _ **/\**_

I opened the door to the dorm and looked around, frowning. The walls were white, the brown shelves bare, the bed pushed to the far left corner, the blanket red and the sheets white with only a single white pillow. This was supposed to be my home for the next four years? Really?

I rolled my eyes and requipped a black spray-paint can, shutting off my 'lungs' and odor detectors, placing the bed, my charger, and the red curtains in the pocket-universe. Then, I started spraying the walls black. When I was done with the walls and they were mostly dry, I pulled the bed and curtains out of the pocket-universe.

I tore the ends of the curtains and made some little tears in them, sloppily stitching up a few. I sprayed the wood of my bed black and requipped some extra pillows that I had carried in my travels, and I looked around the room with a few nods of approval at my 'renovations'.

The walls were painted in uneven shades of black, the curtains were a tattered/stitched-up mess, and the shelves and the circular red rug on the floor were streaked with a few stray lines of black paint. It was perfect.

That's when I began requipping and placing my more personal belongings. I hung up some posters from my favorite bands, I tossed a couple of books depicting and detailing various fighting techniques onto the shelves, and next to my bed, I hung some pictures on the wall.

Pictures of places I had seen, jobs I had completed, and my friends: those who I could still save and those who were long gone. I rested my hand on a picture of Connie and I, my arm around her shoulders as she laughed and I smirked at the camera, and I sighed, shaking my head.

"I'm going to make things right, Connie." I announced quietly. "For you. For all of us... I swear it."

I turned and sat on the edge of my bed, requipping into my pajamas. A simple dark-grey tank-top and black capris, my feet bare and the large tattoo on the center of my upper-back exposed. The black outline of a star.

I looked through the tattered remains of my curtains and out the window, frowning at the shattered moon. It wasn't too long before when I had been just a little bit closer to that moon, flying above Remnant in the _Mother of Invention_.

I bowed my head, closing my eyes and sighing before having O'Malley enter the system and shut the lights off, laying down and reaching under the bed for the end of my charger.

Back in the _Mother of Invention_ , after I learned the truth about myself, I discovered a far more advanced charger built into my bed in my room. After running, I discovered that I needed to charge my synthetic body to survive. My aura sustained me long enough to allow me to construct the charger I had, and while it was rudimentary, it served its purpose.

I opened a compartment in my right forearm and plugged the cable in, wincing as the connection sent a small zap through my body and the couplings hissed. I sighed and laid back, forcing myself to relax. The bed was too soft, the school too quiet. O'Malley appeared in my vision, shaking his head as he looked around the room.

" ** _It's not forever._** " He reminded me. " ** _Just four years. Then, we get the others back. And we bring down those who wronged us._** " I gave a small smile and nodded.

"Yeah... Thanks, pal." I closed my eyes. "Think I should shut down dream-function?"

" ** _If you don't, you will have nightmares._** "

"Yeah, you're right." I shut it down. "... Hey, O'Malley?"

" ** _Yes?_** "

"... What did you think of those crazy kids?"

" ** _I liked that blonde girl. She carried an amount of rage that even I have to respect. And that orange-haired girl. Those explosions reminded me of-_** "

"Theta?"

" ** _Precisely. And, I must admit... That Ruby girl did alright._** "

"Yeah. She did." I was fading. "Goodnight, O'Malley."

" ** _Goodnight, Texas._** "

With that, I fell into recharge.

 ** _Well... That was a thing._**

 ** _So, now Tex is attending Beacon and is about to start doing her job. Will she be able to keep Ruby and the gang from getting into trouble, or will she start most of the trouble? This is Tex, after all..._**

 ** _But are Tex and Project Freelancer the only things from Red vs. Blue to worry about? The Meta is somewhere out there, after all. And as if I could forget who Red vs. Blue is all about... _**

**_*smirk*_**

 ** _I own nothing! Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**


	4. Imperfection (Weiss)

The next morning, after a rude awakening, I made my way to the girls' bathroom to change, seeing as how Professor Ozpin had denied my request for a private, personal changing room and bathroom for myself.

I wrinkled my nose upon arriving at the door, then sighed, shaking my head. I wanted to come to Beacon, to become a Huntress. Huntresses didn't like a life of comfort and convenience. I would have to grow accustomed to not getting what I wanted, all the time.

I reached out and opened the door, finding the bathroom full of steam as other girls in the first-year showered and changed. My nose wrinkled again, despite Yang's blunt warning of most girls' motto in a changing room: _we're all girls, here_.

I averted eye-contact and made my way towards the showers, finding an empty stall. After my shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and sought out an empty changing-room.

I was somewhat surprised to find that I wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable with the situation, my great surprise coming from who it was that shared my feelings.

"Allison?" I asked, frowning as the roguish Huntress-in-training stepped out of the changing-room. The girl looked up at me, blinking a few times.

To my further surprise, the girl appeared to be wearing a boy's uniform that had been adapted for her use. She wore pants, black combat-boots, a white dress-shirt, a red vest, a black uniform-jacket and a brown vest (the only things that she wore which appeared to be from the girl's uniform), and a red hair was held by a black band in a high, messy ponytail with some stray locks falling to frame her face and some bangs brushing her forehead.

"What's up, Ice Queen?"

"Just what do you think that you are wearing?"

"Clothes." Allison replied, crossing her arms. "I suggest you try them sometime, Princess." I looked down, finding myself still wrapped in a towel, and my face heated up. "The room's open. Get in and change before a video of Weiss Schnee evolving into a tomato gets a million hits on _DustTube_."

"Why, you-!" I looked up to see Allison walking away and scowled, only for my eyes to narrow as I noticing something. As Allison tugged the collar of her white dress-shirt up, I saw something grey on her neck. Or... In it.

What?

Allison raised her shirt to cover whatever it was, turning her head and looking around as if she was making sure that no one had noticed, then she departed from the bathroom.

* * *

After I had changed and gotten myself ready for the day, I returned to my dorm and assisted my teammates in decorating and cleaning. We constructed rudimentary bunk-beds, and as a result, we ended up arriving late for our first class.

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night!" Professor Port began as we sat down. We sat in the front row, with Ruby sitting (or rather, sleeping) next to the aisle, me sitting next to her, Yang sitting next to me, and Blake sitting next to her. Next to Blake was Allison, who didn't seem to be taking any sort of notes. She just watched Professor Port, listening carefully, as if she thought she could memorize the entire lesson. "The Creatures of Grimm have many names, but I refer to them as prey! HAHA!" Ruby jolted awake as no one laughed. "Oh, um... And you shall, too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy."

"I prefer to call them _annoying_." Allison muttered, smirking slightly as she watched. I looked over at her, scoffing at her inconsiderate behavior. This was serious!

"As I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe-havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures who would like nothing more than to tear you limb from limb."

"Tch. I'd like to see them try." Allison commented dryly as Professor Port passed her. The man looked up at her with a slightly-raised eyebrow, then continued to speak.

"And that's where we come in! Huntsmen, Huntresses!" The Professor winked at Yang, who rolled her eyes and tried to laugh it off. I noticed Allison's face falling into a disgusted scowl. "Individuals who've sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

"Ayyyy-yeah!" Someone shouted from the second-to-back row. Allison's expression was now a heavy deadpan.

"That is what you are training to become, but first: a story. A tale of a young, handsome man... ME! When I was a boy, I..." As Professor Port spoke, I became aware of Ruby drawing something in her notes. "Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter,' he told me..." Ruby giggled and blew a short raspberry with her tongue as she held up a crude drawing of an overly-round Professor Port with smell-lines rising off of his body labeled _Professor Poop_. Yang laughed, Blake giggled, and I deadpanned heavily. Professor Port cleared his throat, regaining our attention, then continued with his 'lesson'. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high: celebrated as a hero." Allison yawned in response.

"You..." I wanted to lash out, but luckily for her, Ruby was able to regain my attention with her... Antics.

"The moral of this story?" Professor Port asked, looking around the room. "A true Huntsman must be honorable-" Ruby balanced a pencil, a book, and an apple on her finger, making a ridiculous facial expression. "A true Huntsman must be dependable-" Ruby looked ready to doze off. "A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" Ruby picked her nose, IN PUBLIC! "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" I readied to raise my hand, but-

"If anyone says that they are, they're an idiot." Allison spoke up, her tone bitter and annoyed. Professor Port looked at her, seeming curious.

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

" _Honorable_ , _dependable_ , _strategic_ , _well-educated_ , _wise_... Just one of those traits could take years to develop. These kids aren't old enough to have _developed_ , let alone _mastered_ , any of them. Some of us will never master all of them, or any of them."

"Hmm." Professor Port raised an eyebrow, walking towards the girl. "What is your name, Miss..?"

"Allison." Allison responded, sitting up a little straighter and looking the man dead in the eyes. "Allison O'Malley." Professor Port nodded in response.

"You make an excellent point, Miss O'Malley." He commended, and my eyes widened. "Tell me, do you believe that you've mastered these traits?" A long silence passed, then...

"No." Allison responded, sitting back in her chair. "But I believe that no one can master all of them. You'd have to be perfect, and from what I've learned over the years, nobody's perfect. Humans are flawed, and anyone who thinks that they can ever be perfect is kidding themselves. And trying to be perfect out there, in the real world, will get them killed."

"Do you believe that your current mindset will allow you to survive?" Professor Port asked in reply, folding his hands behind his back. Allison just shrugged.

"It's gotten me this far. It can get me further."

"... Prove it."

* * *

Allison changed into her combat-attire and stood at the front of the classroom, making sure that there was ammo in both of her SMGs.

Professor Port stood by a shaking cage in the corner, his weapon ready as whatever was inside fought to get out. From what I could hear, given time to examine the noise, it was a Boarbatusk. Perhaps, if it hit her hard enough, it would finally wipe that smug expression off of Allison O'Malley's face.

"Go, Allie!" Yang shouted eagerly, leaning over the edge of the desk and gripping it in anticipation. Ruby managed a timid _whoo_ and Blake just watched with eyes almost as narrowed as mine. "Whoop its butt!"

"Are you ready, Miss O'Malley?" Port asked, and Allison looked forward, nodding and getting into a loose but strong fighting-stance. "Alright! Let the match begin!"

Port cut the lock, the cage door flying open and releasing a large Boarbatusk, which squealed in rage. Its eyes didn't immediately go to Allison, but to Professor Port, who seemed surprised since he had stepped out of the creature's range of vision and lowered his guard, putting his weapon away.

Before the beast could charge, several Dust-rounds struck its side with flashes of green, the creature turning and snarling as Allison walked forward, her green eyes narrowed dangerously and her right weapon raised.

The Boarbatusk charged, and Allison leapt up, landing on its back and pushing off with enough force to send it slamming into the wall. Allison looked back as it recovered, and I saw her left hand twitch slightly.

The beast charged again, and Allison actually charged towards it, running to meet it head-on as it spun into wheel-mode and rolled at her with astonishing speed.

Time seemed to slow down as I watched Allison arrive at the perfect time to step between the Boarbatusk's tusks, raising her left hand. Blue light flashed, her gun being replaced with a machete-sort of battle-knife, and she sliced up.

The two halves of the Boarbatusk flew past Allison as she landed in a superhero-crouch, her right fist reared back with her gun still held in it and her left fist on the ground with the knife. Both weapons vanished with blue flashes as Allison stood and looked back at the dissolving pieces, her eyes narrowed.

"Tch."

The whole class stared at the girl in grey, stunned by what we had just witnessed. I knew that light had to be her semblance, but what was it? How had Allison been able to calculated that exact timing and placement of her knife? What was my competition at this school..?

Professor Port slowly began clapping, his wide eyes crinkling as he smiled, then he began laughing, walking over and clapping Allison on the shoulder.

"Well done, Miss O'Malley! Well done!" He turned to the class. "Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

* * *

After class, I got into a fight with Ruby and stormed off. After I got some advice from Professor Port, I walked down a hallway towards my dorm when I saw a familiar figure in grey step out of an empty room, mumbling quietly under her breath. I could have sworn that I saw a dark-grey light flicker on her shoulder...

"... What was that?" I demanded, my eyes narrowing. Allison looked back at me, frowning. Whatever the strange light was vanished.

"What?"

"In Professor Port's class. All that talk about no one being able to be perfect and being able to turn around and use an impossible method to kill that Grimm. How can you say-?"

"You're asking why I said that no one, including myself, can be perfect?" Allison asked, raising an eyebrow. "I knew that Schnees were dense, but this is pretty embarrassing."

"Why, you-!"

"I'm not honorable." Allison spoke up, and I blinked a few times in surprise. "I've done things that I'm not too proud of. My ledger is a bit... Messy." Allison looked down, crossing her arms. "I'm not dependable. I let people down all the time." My eyes widened. "I'm no strategist. I'm a soldier. I follow orders... I'm not well-educated. I learned only what I needed to learn in order to survive and fight... I'm not wise. I can't give advice. I can just charge into a fight, or back someone else up when they choose to." Allison looked back at me, letting her hands fall to her sides. "I've known a lot of people. Good, and bad. I've seen terrible crimes committed, and I've seen people change... No one is perfect, Weiss. Humans are selfish, cruel, angry, and scared. They're imperfect... Believe me. I know."

The tone of her voice... It was chilling. Each word came out bitter and pained. It was like I was talking to a war veteran, not another student. And certainly not someone like Allison O'Malley.

"Hmm..." I stared at her, surprised, then shook out of it. "This doesn't change what I think about you." I crossed my arms, glaring. "I still think that you're using Ruby, somehow. I don't trust you."

My family had dealt with this sort of thing, before. People pretending to be our friends and allies for wealth and fame. It was despicable...

"And I don't trust you." Allison's eyes narrowed slightly, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "Some of the people used by your father's questionable business partners say _hello_ , Princess, or they would if they were still alive. Or sane."

Allison turned and walked away, leaving me alone. I stood there for a moment, wondering what in the world she meant, then turned and walked away from that place as well.

I had to speak to my leader.

* * *

 ** _Well... Seven people PM-ed me and asked if I was dead._**

 ** _Hmm... How to respond... Oh, I know!_**

 ** _"I'm not dead, yet!"_**

 ** _*waits for everyone to not get the "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" reference*_**

 ** _Seriously, guys: I'm sorry. I just haven't been able to write for a while because of school and ther stuff that's been going down in my life. I'm trying, I promise._**

 ** _So, to make up for it, I'm going to be posting one chapter a day for this story three days in a row, starting with this chapter. If I can get any more chapters done for my other stories, I'll be posting them, too._**

 ** _To make up for the Sophomore Year of Silence, we will have the Summer of Stories!_**

 ** _And I will make them all more heartbreaking and angsty than ever! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_**

 ** _I own nothing! Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**


	5. The First Meeting (Tex)

I stood in an elevator, my arms crossed and my left foot tapping as I slowly ascended towards Ozpin's office at the top of Beacon Tower. It was time for my first meeting.

O'Malley appeared on my shoulder, his arms crossed as I looked over to see his helmet dissolving, his eyebrow raising questioningly.

" ** _So? What do you think they want?_** "

"Maybe a debriefing. Or they may have come up with more specifics for my mission."

" ** _And you're just going to accept them?_** "

"Do I have a choice?"

" ** _Of course you do, you fool! You can choose to crush their heads like pumpkins, massacre the students, loot the school, and go and rescue the others NOW!_** "

"O'Malley..."

" ** _I know, I know... I still don't like this. I don't trust Ozpin._** "

"He's the only chance we've got of saving everyone. We need his resources, his influence with the other academies and Kingdoms... And I don't think he plans on betraying us. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I can trust him."

" ** _So?_** "

"If he keeps his end of the deal, I'll keep mine. And as long as he does, I'm no threat to him or his students, his academy or anyone or thing else, besides those who wronged us... Agent Texas is gone, at least, for now." I bowed my head, closing my eyes. "All that's left is Allison. And I just want my family back."

The door dinged and opened, and I looked up with wide eyes to see Ozpin and Goodwitch standing there. Goodwitch had a scroll in her hand, and she stared at me in astonishment. Ozpin smiled, his coffee mug and cane in hand.

"That's all I needed to hear."

* * *

A few moments later, I sat in a chair at Ozpin's desk, my arms crossed and my face set in a solid deadpan. Ozpin sat across from me, his hands folded, and Goodwitch stood behind him with her arms crossed.

"I apologize for the intrusion." Ozpin finally spoke. "We simply needed to make sure that your intentions were true and that you could be trusted."

" ** _GO TO OBLIVION!_** "

"O'Malley." I scolded my partner (who had put his helmet back on), then I looked up at Ozpin. "That was a dick move, Ozpin. And speaking of dicks..." I leaned over and looked at the chair Ozpin was sitting on, my right eyebrow twitching slightly. "What the fuck, man?"

"I haven't the faintest idea as to what you are referring to." Ozpin replied simply. I looked up at Goodwitch, who pinched the bridge of her nose.

"An associate of ours has already pointed it out."

"GLYNDA!"

"It had to be said. And who better than Qrow to-?"

"Excuse me-" I raised a hand to stop them, a slight smirk forming on my lips before I resume my passive expression. "But why am I here? And why were you spying on me?"

"Well, first of all, we needed to make sure that you would never be a threat to my students or anyone else." Ozpin began calmly. "Now, as we understand it, you plan on mending your ways as soon as your friends, your family, is rescued." I tensed, then nodded.

"Yes."

"And, as long as your friends are saved, you don't intend to seek revenge?" Ozpin asked. I tensed up, seeing both the professors and O'Malley gazing at me expectantly. A few moments later, I bowed my head and sighed.

"... I want justice." I announced quietly. "I want the ones responsible for this to be held accountable. And... If it can't be done by my hand, then so be it." I looked up, glaring at Ozpin. "I will never forgive them, I will not let them get away with this. But... I won't kill them, as long as my friends have the opportunity to live normal lives. The lives they deserve."

O'Malley glared at me for a moment, crossing his arms, then he sighed and looked down, letting his arms fall slack at his sides. He clenched his fists, then looked up at me and gave a small nod.

" ** _I agree, for the sake of my siblings._** "

"... Allison Beta, O'Malley: you have my trust." Ozpin stated, my and Goodwitch's eyes widening in surprise. Even O'Malley seemed taken aback. "Which brings us to the second reason why you've been called here, today." O'Malley rolled his wrist, gesturing for Ozpin to go on.

"And..?"

"Miss Beta, O'Malley: tell me..." Ozpin gave a small smirk. "What is your favorite fairytale?" I raised an eyebrow, O'Malley and I exchanging glances before looking back at Ozpin.

"What?"

"Fairytales. Surely, you must know at least one or two."

"... I suppose that my favorite fairytale would have to be _the Soldier_." I replied, and Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "It's a story I know from-" I paused, then sighed. "From Allison Church. She used to tell it to her daughter." Ozpin's eyes widened at that, and the headmaster began examining me carefully.

"A daughter?"

"Yes."

"What is her name?"

"Her name..." I took a deep breath. "Was _Carolina_." Ozpin and Goodwitch stared at me for a long moment. "I remembered it just as she fell... She wasn't mine, but in that moment: she was. I saw everything. I saw her born, I saw her grow, I saw all of her firsts... And then it was over, and I saw her die." Goodwitch actually reached out, her expression full of pity.

"Miss Beta-"

"Long ago, during an ancient war, there was a man who went out to fight." I cut her off and began the story. "He was a good man, and an even better soldier, quickly rising through the ranks. But he made some choices that the other higher-ups of the army didn't agree with. He would never abandon his men, he would never harm civilians, and if he deemed a plan too dangerous for the soldiers and the civilians, he would refuse it. Finally, a battle came, and the soldier and his superiors led their men into battle. The soldier fought bravely, heroically, and honorably before he fell... After the battle, the superiors tried to hold a celebration upon winning the war and (discretely) the death of the rebellious soldier. But instead, they were astonished by the sight of all their men raising their hands and standing around the flag, saluting and remaining silent throughout the entire party, mourning the loss of their comrades and their true leader and a true warrior, who to this day is simply known as _the Soldier_ , because while his name may have been lost to time, his legacy goes on." I gave a small laugh. "Carolina would always ask why they honored such a man, who refused to follow orders and make sacrifices for the greater good. And Allison Church would always say ' _because they were unnecessary, and he was the only reason why they lived to see the victory at the end of the war_ '... That's my favorite fairytale."

" ** _Personally, I like Jack and the Beanstalk._**"

"... Fuck you, O'Malley."

"Well..." Ozpin held a hand to his mouth to choke back what I could only assume to be laughter. "Those two fairytales are rather good... But what of _the Tale of the Seasons_?"

"The one about the wizard and the four girls?" I asked, then shrugged. "I guess it's okay. I mean, I've never really believed in magic."

"Hmm." Ozpin hummed, smiling thoughtfully. "You don't believe in magic?" I raised an eyebrow as Ozpin stood, Goodwitch rolling her eyes. "Follow me."

* * *

I stood on an elevator, between Goodwitch and Ozpin, my arms crossed and my eyebrow raised. We had been riding for at least a minute.

"Um..?" I gestured to a button. "What's _Fort Port_?" Goodwitch face-palmed as Ozpin snickered lightly.

"Don't ask."

The elevator arrived, the doors opening to reveal a long, dimly-lit green corridor. My eyes narrowed slightly as Ozpin and Goodwitch stepped out, then I began following them.

"What is this place?" I asked, my fists clenching at my sides. Such a place existing under a school put me on edge near-immediately.

"It's called _the Vault_." Ozpin answered, not looking back as we walked. "It's the one place in this entire academy with no security cameras. The shielding in this place prevents radio-waves and other sorts of surveillance and communication from getting in or out. This, Agent Texas, is the most secure and secret place in all of the Kingdom of Vale."

"But why?" I asked, my eyes narrowing further. "Why would this place possibly need to exist? Why underneath a school filled with-?" My eyes widened as we arrived at the end of the corridor, and I stopped short. "No."

"Allison?" Goodwitch looked back, frowning slightly as I took a step back. If it was real, my face would have paled to pure white. "What's-?"

"... I'm out." I turned and began walking away, only to look down as purple light glowed around my feet. Goodwitch. "Let me go, you sick, twisted-!"

"Allison, what's wrong?" Ozpin asked, and I broke free from Goodwitch's semblance, turning and glaring at the man. I pointed at the machine.

"That same machine was used to create the Alpha! To create me!" I scowled, then I noticed the figure laying inside, my eyes widening. "Who is that?! What have you done?!"

"We haven't done anything." Ozpin walked over to the pod. "This is Amber. She was attacked almost two years ago, and she's been kept on life-support ever since. This is a part of a plan we have, a failsafe in case she passes."

"... Why?" My fists clenched. "Why go through all of this effort to keep one girl alive? Who is she?"

"... You say that you don't believe in magic, Allison." Ozpin looked back at me. "Today is the day you start believing."

* * *

For the next hour, Ozpin and Goodwitch told me the most ridiculous story that I had ever heard. And I had to live with York and Florida for most of my 'life', so that's saying something.

At first, I thought it was all a joke. But as they continued, and I saw the seriousness in their eyes and faces, heard the fear and uncertainty in their voices, my smile disappeared.

By the time the story was done, I knew everything. The Maidens, the Relics, and exactly who I was protecting Ruby from and why. Who attacked Amber, and what plans the Headmasters of the four academies had.

They wanted to transfer what was left of the Fall Maiden's power, along with Amber's aura, into someone else. At that, my eyebrow raised.

"You're buddy-buddy with Atlas." I crossed my arms. "Why not just transport her aura into a _Synth_?" Ozpin and Goodwitch raised eyebrows in confusion, and I sighed, shaking my head. "A synthetic body. Like mine."

"We cannot risk the chance of such an advanced piece of technology being stolen during transportation." Ozpin replied. "Many of the recent military shipments have been raided by the White Fang." I looked down, frowning, then sighed and looked up, my eyes narrowing slightly as I tightly clenched my fists at my sides.

"I can build a body." I announced. Ozpin and Goodwitch's eyes widened. "I may not look like it, but I'm rather good with tech. I have to repair myself and my equipment, after all. And all Freelancers are required to know how to repair vehicles and other machinery... I can build a body for you to transfer Amber's consciousness into. It'll be strong, like me."

"How long would it take?" Ozpin asked, a spark in his eyes that hadn't been there before. I crossed my arms, looking at the woman in the pod.

"Two months, maybe three. Depends on how fast you can get me the resources." I looked to my AI. "O'Malley, email Goodwitch and Ozpin a list of all the materials I'll need to create a body. A body that looks like the subject's current one, so we don't shock her too much." O'Malley nodded, scanning Amber, and Goodwitch and Ozpin's scrolls pinged.

"Hmm." Ozpin looked at his scroll. "I can get this technology. It'll take around two months." I nodded, looking from O'Malley to the two professors.

"Good. The sooner we get your Maiden up and out of here, the sooner she can tell us who did this to her."

"So... You believe us?" Goodwitch asked, seeming surprised. I crossed my arms, looking down.

"... I've been lied to many, many times." I closed my eyes. "I've been fooled, I've been deceived, I've been manipulated... I have taken measures to ensure that I can't be easily lied to, anymore. O'Malley?" My partner nodded, bringing up a chart depicting two sets of data: Ozpin and Goodwitch's heart-rates over the course of our conversation.

" ** _It appears that they were perfectly calm about this, right up until you offered to build a Synth. This increase in heart-rate can be chalked up to excitement, as I have just confirmed that neither of their scrolls have contacted any Atlesian Military personnel about our location. They're telling the truth, Tex._** "

"... Alright." I nodded as Ozpin and Goodwitch stared at us. "If it's good enough for you, O'Malley, it's good enough for me." I looked at the two professors and nodded. "I believe you."

* * *

 ** _Well..._**

 ** _*smirk*_**

 ** _Wasn't that interesting?_**

 ** _I own nothing! Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**


	6. Missing Motivation (Jaune)

I sat at a table with my teammates and Team RWBY after losing a fight in Goodwitch's class against Cardin, AGAIN. I knew I'd be behind the other students, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. Maybe this was a mistake...

"There we were, in the middle of the night!"

"It was day."

"We were surrounded by Ursai!"

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of 'em."

"But Ren and I were no match, and in the end: we took them down!" Nora sat back in her seat, smiling and crossing her arms as she finished her story. I was just picking at my food. "And we made a boatload of lien selling Ursa-skin rugs!"

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month, now." Ren explained, rolling his eyes. That almost made me laugh.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. "Are you okay?" I looked up from my food.

"Oh, yeah!" I replied quickly. "Why?" Ruby sighed.

"It's just..." She began. "You seem a little not-okay."

"Guys, I'm fine." I tried to brush off their concern. "Seriously!" I put a thumb up and tried to smile. "Look!" We saw Cardin and his goons picking on a Faunus girl, doing our best to ignore it.

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha stated. I freaked out, then quickly tried to cover it up.

"Who?" I asked. "Cardin Winchester? Aw, he just likes to mess around, you know!" I grinned, obviously lying to myself and my teammates. "Practical jokes!"

"He's a bully." Ruby glared. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, please." I scoffed, frowning. "Name one time he's bullied me." Three painful flashbacks later... "I didn't land far from the school!"

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrha insisted. My teammates nodded.

"Ooh!" Nora stood, smirking. "We'll break his legs!"

"Guys, really!" I stood. "It's fine. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone."

"OW!" A voice cried. "That hurts!" We looked over to see Cardin pulling on the girl's bunny ear and laughing. "Please, stop..."

"I told you it was real." Cardin smirked. His goons laughed.

"What a freak!"

"I'm this close to asking Allie to kill him." I heard Yang mutter, and I froze. We all looked over to see where Allison was sitting, a few feet away from us at the other end of the table.

Allison's green eyes were narrowed as she did something on her scroll, not eating anything. I couldn't remember ever seeing Allison eat anything, but maybe she was picky or on a diet or didn't like eating in front of people. Or maybe I just didn't pay enough attention.

"That's a bit... Extreme." Ruby managed, tapping her fingers together. No one had seen Allison fight since that day in Port's class, but the memory of that Boarbatusk being sliced in half down the middle still shook me up.

"And anyways, you'd have to break open your wallet to make her lift a finger." Weiss commented dryly, looking at her fingernails. Yang's lilac eyes narrowed slightly.

"Lay off."

"I've dealt with her type before. She doesn't really care for any of us, she's just looking for an advantage of some sort. I mean, she doesn't even sit near us unless it suits her."

"She could just be introverted." Ren argued on Allie's behalf. "She's never seemed to be the most social entity, and none of us have made any real effort to get to know her."

"Whatever. In my eyes, Allison is just a greedy brute." Weiss crossed her arms, scowling as she looked down at her plate. "She would do anything for money or a reward."

"Nah." Yang shook her head. "Even she has her limits. Watch." Yang stood and walked over to where Allison was sitting, smirking, "Hey Allison, I'll pay you five lien to rip Sky's arm off." Allison immediately perked up and looked around the cafeteria with anticipation.

"Which one's Sky?"

"Uh..." Yang didn't know what she was supposed to do. That's when Allison noticed Team CRDL picking on Velvet, her eyes narrowing.

"Hold that thought." Allison stood and cracked her knuckles, walking down the aisle as Cardin continued to tug on Velvet's ears. We all watched, the air growing cold and pits forming in our stomachs.

' _What is she doing?_ ' I thought to myself. If she did this, she'd just become a target...

"Hey, _Cardin_ is it?" Allison asked, raising an eyebrow. Cardin raised an eyebrow, smirking as he started checking Allison out.

"Cardin Winchester, at your service." He gave a coy bow. "Or maybe, gorgeous, you could be at-" Cardin yelped as Allison kicked him where no man should be kicked, and the whole cafeteria let out a simultaneous _ooh_. Allison grabbed Cardin by the collar, glaring as she looked at his teammates.

"Your four, meet me in the training-arena in five minutes." She ordered, tossing Cardin aside. "If you don't, I'll hunt you down and tear **your** _ears_ **_off_**." Allison turned away from Team CRDL, walking up to Velvet.

Allison seemed to dwarf Velvet in power, build, and even slightly in height (not counting the ears, of course). Velvet recoiled, even more timid than she had been while Team CRDL was tormenting her... Until Allison held a hand out. Velvet slowly took it.

"I..."

"You're Velvet Scarletina, one of the most famous Huntresses-in-training of all time, and for good reason." Allison stated quietly. "You are stronger than Cardin Winchester and his goons could ever hope to be. Hell, I'd say you'd be a challenge against me... I can't stand seeing someone as powerful and inspiring as you getting pushed around and not fighting back." Velvet just stared, her ears flattening slightly. "I'm telling your teammates about this. Maybe they can have whatever's left of Team CRDL when I'm done with them... Raise those ears." Velvet slowly obeyed. "Be proud to be different."

Allison turned and walked away, gesturing for Velvet to follow her. Velvet let out a small squeak of fear, but she obeyed anyway.

"... I didn't see anyone offering to pay her for that." Pyrrha commented dryly. Weiss crossed her arms, scoffing and looking away.

"She probably just wants Velvet to owe her a favor, or something. Or maybe, she's trying to make Velvet trust her to get an advantage in Professor Goodwitch's class."

"Not everyone can be read as easily as a book, Weiss." Blake pointed out. "Maybe there's more to Allison than any of us know."

* * *

Five minutes passed, and we all went to the arena. Velvet sat near us as Allison faced away from Team CRDL, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently as they talked strategy. We sat down, on the edges of our seats with anticipation as we waited for the fight.

"Is she crazy?" I finally asked. "What happens if Ozpin - or worse, Goodwitch - finds out about this?" Yang crossed her arms and smirked.

"I don't think she cares."

"WOOO-HOOO!" Nora cheered, cupping her hands around her mouth. "BREAK THEIR LEGS!" Allison looked up at us, then smirked. Uh-oh.

"You sure about this, _sweetheart_?" Cardin asked, still taunting the girl despite the pain he still obviously felt. "All of this, just to protect some stupid mutts?!" Allison's hands fell to her sides and clenched into fists. "Hey! I heard from the Schnee that you'll do  anything for lien-" We all looked at Weiss accusingly, and she quickly avoided eye-contact. "But will you do anyo-?"

"Finish that sentence, and I'll enjoy crushing your voice-box." Allison turned around and cracked her neck without the use of her hands, then slowly raised her fists. She wasn't even going to use her weapons? "I'll give you one out, boys: never mess with Jaune, Velvet, or anyone else in this school ever again, human or Faunus."

"Tch." Cardin rolled his eyes. "As if." Allison shrugged, rolling her shoulders back to loosen them and getting into a stance suggesting that she was going to charge the four.

"Your funeral."

...

 ** _Bitch in black, hard as stone,_**

 ** _Need no friends, work alone!_**

...

Allison charged and preformed a spinning kick that sent Dove flying into a wall with enough force to immediately shatter his aura and leave him imbedded in the solid concrete. Russell's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?!"

All of our eyes widened at the sheer power behind Allison's first strike. How was that even possible?!

...

 ** _Three on one, they shoulda sent four!_**

 ** _Every time you stand up, you're back on the floor!_**

...

Allison punched Sky in the face and kicked Cardin in the chest, sweeping out Russell's legs, standing in the middle of the three boys as they all attacked simultaneously, and...

She was kicking their asses. They didn't even have time to raise their weapons before they were thrown out of their hands and across the arena.

...

 ** _A punch in the balls, and a kick to the head!_**

 ** _Get it on, boys, or you're gonna get dead!_**

...

"How is she coordinating all of her attacks?" Weiss asked, stunned. Pyrrha shook her head, shocked.

"This doesn't seem physically possible..."

...

 ** _Think ya got skills, but you're sinking like a stone!_**

 ** _Next time, fuckers, you should just stay home!_**

...

Allison leapt up and kicked all three of them in the head, knocking them over, and she picked Sky up by his collar, and she raised an eyebrow.

"You're Sky?" She asked. He nodded, his eyes wide. "A friend offered me five lien to tear your arm off. Isn't it obvious that I'm trying to get over a severe gambling addiction?"

"T-that bitch?"

"I know, right?!" Allison dropped Sky and kneed him where no man should ever be kneed, then sent a spinning kick that threw him into Russell.

...

 ** _You can screw Nevada,_**

 ** _Mess with Maine,_**

 ** _Leave Hawaii in a puddle of pain!_**

...

"Well..." Yang frowned slightly. "I'm starting to regret recent actions. A: because I don't want to be on the receiving end of THAT." Allison cracked Cardin and Russell's heads together. "And B: she has a gambling problem?! I feel bad..." Yang shot a brief glare at Weiss. "Thanks a lot."

...

 ** _You can beat Virginia 'til she's down on the floor,_**

 ** _But if you fuck with Tex, you'll be on your knees for sure!_**

 ** _Motherfucker_**!

...

Allison cracked her knuckles as Sky and Russell recovered, giving them time and obviously in no hurry. She was treating it like it was all a game, to her.

But still, despite this being a game, it didn't seem like she didn't care whether she won or lost. She was determined to win, even though she must have known it would be effortless.

But what sense could that make? All she was doing was beating down some bullies. Sure, one had flirted with her, but outside of that, she wasn't really involved. She didn't know Velvet or me, she had nothing to lose or gain by leaving us to be bullied or coming to our rescue... Right?

Could she be doing this to serve her own needs, or could this be a side of Allison O'Malley that we hadn't really seen, before? One that protected others and took care of people, who defended them when they needed her?

...

 ** _'Advantage: Texas' - got that right!_**

 ** _Bet you boys sleep well tonight!_**

...

"You've got to admit..." Blake crossed her arms. "Her hand-to-hand combat is amazing. Against people, she doesn't even need weapons."

"They are members of Team CRDL." Ren commented, then looked at me. "No offense." I looked down.

"She's just playing with them!" Nora smiled, pointing. "Just look at her! She's holding back! This is nothing!" Aapparently, Nora and I were the only ones who had figured this out at that time, as everyone else stared in horror.

"What happens when she's REALLY angry?" Ruby asked, scared. I shook my head, looking back at the fight.

"I don't want to know."

...

 ** _Lick those wounds, nurse those sores!_**

 ** _'Name reserved' - and that's who for!_**

...

Allison tilted her head slightly as all three of the boys charged at once, then smirked and charged as well, ducking and sliding under Cardin (between his legs) and leaping up and kicking him in the back of the head, knocking him temporarily out of the fight while she dealt with Russell and Sky.

...

 ** _You got nine lives, she's got ten!_**

 ** _After that she'll ride again!_**

...

Allison grabbed Sky's hand and spun around, throwing him into Russell and sending both boys tumbling to the floor, Russell recovering and swiping his blades at the girl.

Allison backed up, eyes narrowing in thought, then she grabbed the daggers by the blades and tore them out of the boy's hands. Allison swiped both blades and sent Russell falling down, his aura shattered.

...

 ** _Bit of a badass, anyone can tell!_**

 ** _That crazy bitch is Hell's angel!_**

...

Sky charged with his sword as Allison dropped Russell's blades, but Allison grabbed his hand and flipped him over her head, slamming him into the ground and shattering his aura.

Cardin stood and glared, raising his mace as Allison turned to him.

...

 ** _Oklahoma: beat down!_**

 ** _Pennsylvania: dead and drown!_**

 ** _Minnesota: castigate!_**

 ** _Massachusetts: flagellate!_**

 ** _Bitch-slap Tennessee!_**

 ** _DC: dead, see?!_**

 ** _Utah is a fucking mess!_**

 ** _Oregon in great duress!_**

...

Allison ducked her head and dodged the mace, only for Cardin to strike her in the side and send her skidding on her feet, glaring back at him.

"How did she not feel that?!" Weiss asked, stunned. "That hit had to be hard enough to at least drop her aura a little!" I pointed to the scoreboard.

"Um..."

 _Allison O'Malley: 98.2%_

 _Cardin Winchester: 52%_

"... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

...

 ** _Maryland is on her knees!_**

 ** _Louisiana? Bitch, please!_**

 ** _Mississippi: worst day ever!_**

 ** _North Dakota: not much better!_**

 ** _Missouri: in a stranglehold!_**

 ** _Montana's corpse is getting cold!_**

 ** _Bleeding time for old Kentucky!_**

 ** _Indiana: not so lucky!_**

...

Allison caught Cardin's mace as he swung it again and ripped it out of his hands, taking it in her own and swinging it like it was weightless.

I knew from personal experience that it wasn't.

Allison beat Cardin down with his own mace for a while, smirking as he actually retreated to catch his breath. Then, she tossed the weapon aside and placed her hands on her hips.

...

 ** _Vermont could use a four leaf clover!_**

 ** _New Jersey: it is almost over!_**

 ** _Pick up Delaware and slam her!_**

 ** _Call the meds for Alabama!_**

 ** _Michigan has been destroyed,_**

 ** _Ditto that for Illinois!_**

 ** _New Hampshire should have brought a friend!_**

 ** _West Virginia's at her end!_**

...

"Well?" Allison asked coyly. "Ready to give in and leave those kids alone?" Cardin looked up, exhausted but livid.

"You crazy bitch!"

"I'll take that as a _no_." Allison deadpanned, rolling her eyes in mild annoyance. Then, she charged again.

...

 _ **Colorado: crash and burn!**_

 _ **Kansas: point of no return!**_

 _ **Georgia's underneath a bus!**_

 _ **California's really fucked!**_

 _ **Idaho and South Dakota:**_

 _ **Give it up, your time is over!**_

 _ **Nebraska, cancel all appointments!**_

 _ **Washington, we've got your ointments!**_

...

Allison and Cardin got into a fist-fight, every hit that Allison landed knocking off five percent of his aura, and she was too fast for him to land any.

I think Cardin was sorta afraid of what would happen to him if he did.

...

 _ **Ohio don't stand a chance!**_

 _ **Wyoming needs a change of pants!**_

 _ **Rhode Island, you cannot surmount!**_

 _ **Puerto Rico? Does that even count?!**_

 _ **Pummel down on Carolina!**_

 _ **Connecticut, you're SUCH a whiner!**_

 _ **Arkansas, eat my dust!**_

 _ **Alaska is a total bust!**_

...

"What is going on, here?!" Goodwitch stormed into the observation room, eyes narrowed. Then, she noticed the fight and glared. "What is she doing?!"

"T-Team CRDL was pulling on my ears, a-and she challenged them." Velvet admitted timidly. Goodwitch's eyes softened slightly, then she looked out as Cardin was once again hit where no man should be hit.

"Well... Not the most conventional punishment for bullying, but maybe it should be." Goodwitch smirked slightly, looking away from us. " _If caught bullying, the offender will be forced to spar with Allison O'Malley._ "

"... I'm scared, now." I admitted, my eyes wide. Then, we looked back to the fight.

...

 ** _You can screw Nevada,_**

 ** _Mess with Maine,_**

 ** _Leave Hawaii in a puddle of pain!_**

...

Allison threw Cardin up into the air, then leapt up and slammed her feet into Cardin's stomach, increasing his momentum and sending him slamming back-first into the ground with enough momentum to make a crater, shattering his aura.

"Give in?" Allison asked as she stepped off of him. Cardin nodded weakly, letting out a squeaking sound as he laid on the ground, and Allison nodded in approval. "Good."

Allison stomped on a place that no man ever wants to be stomped on, turned, and walked away.

...

 ** _You can beat Virginia 'til she's down on the floor,_**

 ** _But if you fuck with Tex..!_**

 ** _If you fuck with Tex..!_**

 ** _If you fuck with Tex, you'll be on your knees for sure!_**

 ** _MOTHERFUCKER!_**

...

"Well..." Yang stared as we all gaped in astonishment at the carnage. "That was a thing." I blinked a few times in surprise, then shook out of it.

"She did that all with her bare hands..." I was even more out of my league than I thought. Goodwitch gazed down at the arena.

"She did this for you, you say?" The teacher asked, turning to Velvet. The girl nodded nervously, then pointed a shaking finger at me. "And Mr. Arc? Hmm... It appears that Miss O'Malley has taken a small liking towards you two. This is quite the surprise... I should probably call the infirmary so that can send someone to pick up Team CRDL. I suggest that you collect Miss O'Malley before she starts another brawl." Goodwitch departed, and Allison walked up the stairs and faced us, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow as we looked at her.

"What?"

"... That was AWESOME!" Nora cackled eagerly. "I will follow you anywhere!" It was obvious who my least loyal teammate was, now... Allison rolled her eyes and gave a small smile at that, scoffing.

"It was no big thing." She brushed it off like it was nothing. "Honestly, how did those guys even get into Beacon?" My guess was _legitimately_ , unlike me. I stood no chance...

"W-why did you do that?" Velvet finally asked. Allison raised an eyebrow, turning and looking at her. "Why d-do that, just for us?" A moment passed in silence, and I half-expected Allison to tear Velvet's head off.

For some reason, even before this incident, Allison seemed like the sort of person you didn't want to argue with. I don't know why, but I felt like any attempt to contradict or question her would result in an agonizing death. This fight had just solidified those feelings.

I instinctually stepped back as Allison's eyebrow twitched, her eyes narrowing slightly as she gazed at Velvet, her frown deepening... Then, Iblinked as Allison looked down.

"... I had this friend." Allison admitted, almost embarrassed. "She was one of the most intelligent, strong-willed, independent, powerful fighters I had ever seen. She was also kind, but she was hiding many things. One day, I figured one out... She was a Faunus, but the combat-training program she was in before we met didn't take Faunus. But it was her life-long dream. So, she had..." Allison reached up and made as gesture with the top of her head. The slice of a blade. "I never want to see anyone pushed to that extreme, ever again."

"She..?" Blake stared, horrified. Allison clenched her fists and looked down, gritting her teeth as rage flashed in her eyes before calming herself.

"Yeah... One of my closest friends had mutilated herself, cast aside a part of herself: forever. That's why I don't judge people on where they come from, their species, or anything stupid like that. I judge them on combat-prowess, yes, but even more so on the content of their character." Allison turned away. "And anyone who judges others on petty things like appearances or species, be warned now: if I catch you, I won't hesitated to do to you what I did to CRDL."

Allison departed, and we looked down at the arena as Team CR(D)L was carted out of the area on stretchers, three medics trying desperately to remove Dove from the wall.

* * *

 ** _/\/\/\/\_**

* * *

The next day, after one of Doctor Oobleck's classes went wrong, Pyrrha offered to train me. I snapped at her, blurting out the truth about sneaking into Beacon, and I chased her off.

That's when Cardin (still battered and bruised) revealed that he had been listening. I was on his leash, now. If I didn't do what he said, I would be leaving Beacon for good.

I walked down a hallway, having just gotten a pep-talk from Ruby and orders from Cardin to get some rapier wasps, only to turn a corner and find Allison standing there. Her arms were crossed, and she looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a slight deadpan.

"Uh... Hi?"

"You. With me. Now."

"I-I have something to do-"

"Jaune, I know that you snuck into Beacon and I know Cardin has you on a leash. I overheard him gloating about it to his teammates."

"Uh..." I must have paled to snow-white as I stared at the girl. Allison sighed, shaking her head.

"Bleeding hearts of the world unite..." She looked up at me again. "I want to help you, Jaune." I rolled my eyes, turning away and crossing my arms.

"Since when were you another Pyrrha?"

"Jaune, you can't be on Cardin's leash for the rest of your life. And you can't stay at the level you're at, either. It could get your team killed."

"Don't you mean our team?" I asked bitterly, looking down and shaking my head in self-disgust. "You're a part-time member, but a member all the same." A hand was placed on my shoulder, and I looked back.

"That's why I want to help." Allison stated quietly. "I've lost a team, before. I'll be damned before I lose another, or let you lose your first." Allison removed her hand as I turned to her. "I overheard your conversation. You need some rapier wasps, huh?"

"Y-yeah."

"I think I know what they're for, and how to take care of it."

"How?"

"Well..." Allison smirked coyly, crossing her arms. "You just take care of the wasps. I've got two new associates who will be more than willing to help me set up a little... Surprise."

With that, Allison turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone in the hallway.

* * *

 ** _/\/\/\/\_**

* * *

The next morning, I carried all of Team CRDL's jars and the box of rapier wasps to the Forest of Forever Fall for our field-trip, and I looked up just in time to see Allison smirking and winking at me before walking off into the woods with my teammates and Team RWBY.

Nora and Yang were at her sides, and I could hear them giggling as Allison whispered something that only the two of them could hear...

Oh no.

* * *

After I gathered the sap, I met up with Team CRDL and Cardin told me to throw the extra jar of sap at Pyrrha so that he could sic the wasps on her for humiliating him in class.

I refused, and after Cardin and his team beat me up for throwing the jar of sap at him and I somehow hurt Cardin's hand and healed myself at the same time, I heard a strange whistling...

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in a clearing..._

 _"Okay." Allison smirked, looking at Yang and Nora. "I soaked their underwear and shoes in sugar-water. When they try to sic those wasps on someone, they'll go straight for the balls and feet. After that, we release our... **Little friend**."_

 _"And we'll go back and put up an act while you make sure no one gets bloodied up too badly." Yang nodded in agreement, winking. "I've gotta say, Allie. I didn't know you had this in you."_

 _"Ah, well..." Allison crossed her arms, giving a devious grin. "I guess you can blame my upbringing."_

 _" **And we should set their dorm on fire, then sprinkle the ashes of their valuables into hot-sauce and chili powder and pour it into their eyes!** "_

 _"Uh, Allison?" Nora asked, and the girl looked over as Nora pointed. Jaune was getting beaten up._

 _"... Change of plans." Allison's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You two: go. I'll handle this."_

 _"Allie?" Yang raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" Allie looked at the two girls, then smirked as she raised her hands into the air. A large dark-grey sniper-rifle fell from the air in a burst of pixels, landing in her hands._

 _"Something dumb."_

* * *

I looked back as a round without Dust hit the box of rapier wasps. The box burst open, the wasps flying out and swarming around Team CRDL's feet and legs (along with Cardin's sap-coated armor) as I scrambled away, my eyes wide as they yelped in pain.

Then, an enormous Ursa Major burst from the woods with a loud roar, snarling as its eyes locked on the thrashing and helpless Team CRDL. My scroll pinged, and I looked down at it.

 ** _•"Whoops" *wink*. Now's your chance, Arc.•_**

I lowered my scroll, my eyes narrowing as I drew my sword and opened my shield on my arm, stepping forward and glaring at the monster. If anything went wrong, my team and my friends were nearby, and Allie had whatever weird gun she was using for this...

Unless, of course, she decided that she wasn't going to help me and make me deal with this on my own. She seemed like Yang, the sort of person who'd teach someone to swim by pushing them into a pool. Or maybe she was the sort of person who taught someone how to hold their breath by forcing their head under the water.

I charged as the monster raised its paw, barely ducking and landing a slash on its stomach. I quickly backed away, but I still got knocked aside. I stood and ran forward, doing my best to keep its attention off of Team CRDL. I charged again, only for it to knock me aside again, and I rolled across the ground before standing and glaring.

The monster charged and swiped it paw at me, and some strange force (instinct?) made me lift my shield to block the attack, and I stepped forward and sliced the thing's head off.

A gunshot went off somewhere in the distance, and the rapier wasps fled as the Ursa Major began to dissolve. Team CRDL looked up at me, their eyes wide as I lowered my weapons, turning my shield back into a sheathe and putting Croeca Mors away.

"Whoa." Cardin stared at me as I walked over, taking the time to make sure that they were alright for a reason that was beyond me. "Jaune?"

"Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again." I glared, and Cardin seemed surprised. "Got it?" Cardin nodded, and I turned and left.

* * *

After Pyrrha and I made up and trained for a while, then we went to eat some pancakes (curtesy of Ren, with no syrup thanks to Nora), I returned to the rooftop to find a figure in black and grey swinging a blade around.

Allison spun a sort of battle-knife in her right hand before catching it and stabbing forward with it, with enough force and accuracy behind the strike to create a sound that was both sickening and badass at the same time.

"That's the blade you used to kill that Boarbatusk." I marveled, and Allison turned to me. I raised an eyebrow as I got a better look at it. "Huh... Doesn't look like it transforms."

"It doesn't." Allison admitted, looking the weapon over. "And this isn't the one I used, that day. This is a little bit more... Personal." Allison turned away and sat on the edge of the roof.

I found myself walking over and sitting next to her, gazing at her for a long moment as she looked down at the old blade. I looked at the blade itself, and I noticed an jagged engraving at the butt of the hilt.

 _C.T._

"... You mentioned that you had lost a team, before." I spoke up, and Allison looked at me. Then, she looked back at the blade and sighed, nodding. "What happened to them?"

"They were manipulated." Her grip on the blade tightened, and I reached out, thinking she'd cut herself. But her hands weren't bleeding, so I guess that she was fine. "Twisted... And they tore each other apart."

I just gazed at Allison for a moment, stunned. She was being vague, that's for sure, but I couldn't tell whose sake it was for: mine or her own. Her voice when she spoke about her team... It sent shivers down your spine. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know more about them... But I still asked.

"... Your friend." I frowned at the blade, an eerie feeling washing over me. "The one whose story makes you fight for the little guy... What was her name?" Allison sighed, shaking her head as she looked back at me.

"... Connie."

"You talk like she's-"

"Dead?"

"Well... Yeah."

"That's because she is." Allison looked out over Beacon. "She trusted the wrong people, and they let her down. By the time they realized that she was right all along, it was too late. She was long gone."

I blinked, gazing at the girl for another long moment. This was her friend that she was talking about, her teammate, someone who had died because someone, probably her own team, screwed up. My eyes widened as I thought about what would happen if any of my teammates died. What would that do to me, to the rest of them?

I looked at Alison, at that look in her eyes - the look of a war-veteran, the look that belonged to an old, retired Hunter and not a teenage girl - and I frowned. Would becoming a Huntsman do that to me? To my friends?

And on the subject of _friends_ , what was Allison to me? She barely talked to anyone, but she could easily spin around and protect us without a moments' hesitation or clear desire for reward. She was my teammate, obviously, but was she really a friend or just a helpful acquaintance?

The longer I gazed at her and thought about it, the more certain I became about my answer. Allison flinched as I slid her hand into mine, then she looked at me with an annoyed glance, her eyebrow raised. Instead of recoiling,I frowned and gripped her hand tighter.

"... I'm sorry."

I really was. I was sorry for sneaking into Beacon, I was sorry for being so ill-prepared for this, I was sorry for endangering my friends and my team, I was sorry for not standing up for myself. I was sorry for judging Allison before I got to know her, and I was sorry for all of her loss.

I looked her in the eyes as I thought on all of those apologies, and Allison blinked. Then, she sighed and looked down, nodding in agreement as she briefly squeezed my hand.

"... Me, too." Allison replied quietly. We sat there for a long time in silence, both of us in a mourning..

Over our choices.

Over what I almost lost.

Over what she could never get back.

"... This never happened?" I asked jokingly. Allison looked at me, deadpanning heavily as she nodded and pulled her hand from mine.

"That's right." She agreed, standing up and glaring down at me before turning and walking away. "By the way, I talked to Pyrrha. She says that I can drop in and help with your little sparring-sessions _whenever_." My eyes widened.

"W-what?!"

"Thats right, dead man!" Allison looked back, smirking cruelly with narrowed eyes. "Rest assured - I won't let up until you can do what I did to Team CRDL _**in your sleep**_."

Allison turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, frozen in terror. Slowly, a small squeak of fear left me in a long sound, then I fell back and passed out cold from fright.

* * *

 ** _Well... That was a thing._**

 ** _I own nothing! Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**

 ** _P.S._**

 ** _1\. If you haven't already, go and check out RWBY Amino! It's an awesome app filled with hundreds of members of the cRWBY or FNDM or whatever you call it! Just know that, if you join a faction, it had better be the #RWBYAminoVillains or #RWBYAminoCriminals. XD_**

 ** _2\. Who's going to RTX: Austin 2017? 'Cause I'm gonna be there!_**


	7. A Message from a Soldier

My name is Allison.

No, I'm not Agent Texas. I'm not the Beta AI.

I'm not even the original A2-Grey AI.

I'm Allison Grey, Allison Church: Special Operative of the Atlesian Military.

Declared KIA after a mission went sour, really sour, 'round thirteen or fourteen years back.

I was born in the village of Texas, Vacuo. My momma died when I was really small, so Dad and the other people in the village raised me and raised me right. The lessons they taught me and the skills they forged in me stayed with me and aided me every day of my life.

Wit.

Strength.

Accuracy.

Power.

Speed.

Calm.

No surrender.

No weakness.

No looking back.

No regrets.

And...

Don't fuck with Texas.

When I was young, my father and some men from around the town saw me take an old BB-gun and shoot a young Nevermore between the eyes, and from that day on: they were all training me to be a Huntress, to do our village proud. I became stronger, faster, and stubborn as Hell, and I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I would fight for what I thought was right, regardless of what people thought of me.

I was influenced by my favorite story: _The Soldier_.

When I was fifteen, I was visiting a larger town called _Carolina_ near a large _SDC_ mine (back when Nicholas was in charge and everyone was happy to have the mine there) with my father, and the Grimm attacked. No one knows how or why, just that they were trying to get to the mine but they were weak from crossing the desert.

But that didn't mean that they weren't dangerous.

Before anyone could stop me, I had my gun loaded and I blew a Gryphon's brains out. I reloaded and fired again, I kept firing and killing, right alongside the real Huntsmen and Huntresses who came to help. But it was I who shot first, it was I who bought time for them to get there, it was I who killed the most.

Word of what I had done spread, and one day when I was sixteen, I answered the door to find a man dressed in white, grey, silver, and red. It was General Winston Steel of the Atlesian Military, the headmaster of Atlas Academy. I just stared as he placed the acceptance letter into my hand, saying that the forges of Atlas would be at my disposal for me to forge my customized weapon and that I'd be expected at Atlas for initiation in the spring.

So, I said _see you later_ to my Dad and the village, hopped on the general's airship, and flew to Atlas. I attended Atlas Academy for four years, graduating at age twenty, and I was given the option of joining the military as a special operative. I was a prodigy, General Steel said it himself. I didn't need the military to survive and thrive, I was a fully-fledged Huntress. But that day, I couldn't stop hearing Dad's voice when he told me my favorite fairytale.

 _The Soldier._

So, I agreed to join the Atlesian Military, and Special Operative Allison Grey was born.

* * *

I served Atlas for seven whole years before I walked into that bar. I'm not sure why I did it, maybe it was the stress of having a rookie who would someday be my partner and best friend placed under my wing, his life in my hands. But all the same, I walked into that bar, sat down, and ordered a drink.

The young man sitting next to me, due to the shirt I was wearing, noticed my star tattoo and said it was nice. The bartender tried to tell him off, saying that a woman who looked like me wouldn't give him the time of day. I guess I turned to the man to spite him, and... Well...

That's how I met Leonard Church.

He was a college man, a prodigy in his own world. Computer programming, technology, design. As he spoke to me, I found myself drawn in and fascinated by his passion and dreams of creating stable AI. Three years after that night, we were married. A year after that, I was a mother.

Carolina Charlotte Church.

I doted on my daughter. She was my moon, my sun, my stars. My beautiful little baby girl. I cherished every moment I spent with her and Leonard. But after maternity leave, I was back in the military, and I spent less and less time with them. They lived at my base, but I was sent all over the world. As Carolina got a little older, she began asking why I never said _goodbye_ , and I answered her.

 ** _"Never say goodbye. If you never say goodbye, then you aren't really gone. You just... Aren't here, right now."_**

* * *

When Carolina was four, I was on a weeklong leave at base. I spent every minute with her, and Leonard, and my partner. But then, we recieved word of a strange gathering of Grimm outside of Mantle, and my partner and I were sent with the reinforcements to help eliminate the threat.

He and I somehow ended up alone in the middle of the Grimm horde, the other soldiers fighting on the outskirts to get to us. I don't remember much of the next to days of nonstop fighting, just that some strange instinct, the instinct to survive and protect, took over and shut out every lesson that I'd ever been taught. People who witnessed me that day would say that I fought like, or even became, an animal. Desperate to live, to escape, to win, to get home.

But this story doesn't have a happy ending.

Did I ever assure you of one?

I remember seeing that Emperor Taijitu slither up. It was huge, and my partner tried to fight it alone to protect me, since at that point, I was exhausted. I could barely stand, the terror alone nearly toppled me...

But my knees stopped shaking as I watched that monster bite my partner, and infect his right side with its venom. He fell, and I already knew that we didn't have much time. There were still dozens of smaller Grimm, and that monster. The other soldiers were close, but they weren't close enough.

Someone needed to buy time.

I raised my gun, then removed all of the Dust-cartridges and placed them on my belt. I had a pack of matches in my back pocket, and the monster had noticed me as I walked to stand between it and my partner.

 ** _"A-Allie, what are you-?"_**

 ** _"You get out of this, kid. You get out of this, and you take care of Carolina and Leonard! Promise me!"_**

 ** _"A-Allie..? Allison, no!"_**

I remember my life flashing before my eyes as I ran forward, dodging the beast as it lunged before jumping onto its coils as it reared its head back, fueled by adrenaline as it willingly lunged at its own body just so that it could get to me. I drew a match and lit it, lowering it to my belt just as the beast's jaws snapped around me..

I saw a burst of color, every color in the rainbow, then everything went black.

I always liked black more than color, the darkness was sweet and soothing.

I drifted off to sleep...

And I never woke up.

* * *

They never found my body.

They had nothing left of me, save my dogtags. My partner gave them to Carolina, who was still wearing my last gift to her: my grey military cap.

Leonard lost it. He created that horrible experiment, Project Freelancer, to try and bring me back. He even used Carolina, our baby, in his coverup. All of those fifty children, the Alpha AI and his many fragments, A2-Grey, Beta: they all suffered. Because of me.

Does that mean that I regret what I did? No, not at all. My partner... He has become a great man despite the many burdens of his past. And with the knowledge he has from his mistakes, not to mention an alliance he has joined, he is going to change the world for the better. And when he finally learns the truth of Project Freelancer, I know that he will find Carolina and protect her.

After all, he promised. He's her godfather, after all...

What's that, now?

What do I think of A2-Grey and Beta? Of Alpha, Epsilon, and the rest?

Alpha was, by all definitions, the Leonard Church I married. Youthful, naïve, optimistic, intelligent. Maybe a little too snarky and sarcastic, but hey: it's what made him _Church_... He suffered needlessly. I will never forgive Leonard for what he did to me, and more so: what he did to himself.

As for Eta, Iota, Omega, Delta, Gamma, Theta, Epsilon, and any other AI fragments that may have been created, I don't blame them for what happened to Alpha. They, like Alpha, were like little children. Terrified, thrown into a world of pain and confusion to be used, like Carolina...

A2-Grey was a collection of data, all of Church's memories and knowledge of me given form and the ability to think. Church typed out the details in a computer and pulled the Frankenstein switch, and she came to life and panicked. It wasn't her fault, it was his, and he just locked her away. She must have been so frightened... I hope that, someday, someone rescues her and either gives her permenant rest or a purpose. If she's like me, she's driven. Being trapped and weak would be torture.

Beta intrigues me, in all honesty. Her time in Project Freelancer, her time on the run as Agent Texas, her time at Beacon, and her current state have all captivated my attention. Somehow, the Alpha made her in such a way that she embodies me and remembers our old life, but she's her own person. She lives, she fights, she loves, she desires... I feel as though I have two daughters, her and Carolina.

Oh, Carolina. Your life with Project Freelancer, trying to make a broken man appreciate what he hadn't lost yet and protect those around you, has worn you down. But, at least, you're not alone, anymore. Epsilon, the Simulation Troopers, and that cute little Agent Washington boy ( _*wink*_ ) will look out for you, and through them, you will find Beta. Your family will grow and grow...

Just promise me this one thing, baby.

I wasn't much of a mother, so I know I have no right to ask anything do you. But please, my star: listen to this one bit of advice that this old soldier has left to offer.

Once you find them, hold them close. Protect them, never let go, and...

Never say 'goodbye'.

...

 _Goodbye._


	8. A Message from a Memory

This is the story of how I died.

No, no. There's got to be a better way to start this. That's too depressing.

Ahem...

My name is Epsilon. Some people used to call me _the Alpha_ , and a long time ago, some people used to call me _the Director_. Most people just call me _Church_. And boy, has it been a wild ride.

I remember waking up in a little place outside of Vacuo called Blood Gulch. They told me that my name was Private Leonard Church, and that I was serving alongside Private Lavernius Tucker under Captain Butch Flowers.

Flowers was a bit... Off. I mean, he was too touchy-feely and he said some pretty weird things at times. But, we eventually got used to it. Flowers wasn't a bad guy. He was just a little... Quirky?

Tucker was a fucking pervert. Always talking about women and making inappropriate jokes and saying-

 ** _"Bow chica bow wow!"_**

Ugh... What an asshole. But, unfortunately, that asshole and I eventually ended up being the only two half-sane people on our team. And well, over the years, we ended up becoming friends. My opinions on Tucker and the others went from-

 ** _"I always hated you. I always hated you the most."_**

To-

 ** _"Out of all the people I met... I hate you all the least."_**

It's funny, how things can change with time...

The three of us worked for Atlas, and we were part of some sort of fight against these rebel insurgents called the _Red Team_. We called ourselves the _Blue Team_ , and well...

Our fights, weren't really fights. No one ever got hurt, no one ever really gained the upper hand. Hell, the Blue Team's captain died of an aspirin overdose. And because of that, I had to step up to the plate and lead Tucker and I through our little encounters with the Reds... Who were, honestly, not really bad guys. Sure, they were idiots, but they weren't really bad guys.

There was Sarge, the leader, and he was INSANE. Seriously, the guy was always shouting stuff like "for our ancestors" and "I hope you brought your wallets, 'cause the rent in Hell gets paid in advance". I tolerated it because those were honestly some pretty good lines.

 ** _"TODAY IS A GOOD DAY FOR YOU TO DIE!"_**

Then, there was Simmons. He was this real nerdy guy who seemed to have a desperate need to serve other people. He was always trying to find a way to help people, and while you might not think that's so bad, he was also a HUGE know-it-all. And, unlike Sarge, he only had one line.

 ** _"Suck it, Blue!"_**

After that, there was Grif. Grif was the most tolerable of the Reds, and he was the most harmless. Mostly because he was too lazy to bring extra ammunition, or even raise his gun some days. Grif and I had a few encounters where we talked, and we got along for the most part... Except for the day I made him publicly humiliate himself in front of both Blood Gulch teams.

 ** _"I just want to let everyone know that I suck."_**

 ** _"And?!"_**

 ** _"And that I am a girl."  
_**

 ** _"And?!"_**

 ** _"And I like ribbons in my hair, and I want to kiss all the boys."_**

Ha! Still funny...

Lopez was this strange member of the Red Team who seemed to be only capable of speaking this language that no one on Remnant could understand. He repaired things and seemed to make a lot of sarcastic comments. He hated all of us, no question, but where else was he supposed to go?

 ** _"MADRE DE DIOS!"_**

Anyway, our life pretty much had a routine. The Blues spy on the Reds, all the Reds do is talk, all the Blues do is talk, everyone argues and complains, and no one accomplishes anything with theirs lives. God, I miss when days were that simple. That carefree. That... Innocent.

All of that went downhill when the rookies arrived.

The Red Team recieved Donut. Donut was a nice kid, harmless. A little girl-y, but hey: at least he was too focused on fashion and decorating to ever be a real threat. And damn, he had a good arm.

 ** _"IT'S NOT PINK! IT'S LIGHTISH-RED!"_**

The Blue Team recieved Sheila and Caboose. Sheila was an intelligent little teenage girl who was pretty small in size, but she was a militant fighter with a bit of a... Dark side. When she ran into battle with that big old rocket-launcher of hers, she was having the time of her life. I think Caboose had a bad influence on her.

 ** _"Firing main canon!"_**

Caboose was... Well, there's no one word to describe Caboose. You know how people say 'the most damaged people smile the brightest'? That pretty much sums Caboose up. He was never exactly right in the head, and I had to watch as he got worse. When I was Alpha, I didn't really give a damn. That idiot 'killed' me. But he was bound and determined to be my best friend, and he never stopped trying to help me. I shouldn't have been so hard on him...

 ** _"Time does not run in lines! Time runs in circles! That is why clocks are round!"_**

Oh, right. You must be wondering what I mean when I say that Caboose 'killed' me. Well, you see, to explain that, I'll have to start at the beginning. The VERY beginning. As in, the day I was created. Or, the Alpha was created.

My name is Epsilon, and I am the AI fragment of Director Church's Alpha AI that contains the Alpha's (and the Director's) memories. And this is the story of Director Leonard Church, Alpha, the agents of Project Freelancer, the AI fragments, and the Reds and the Blues' struggle against Project Freelancer...

And the story of my girlfriend, Agent Texas.

...

It all began with the death of Allison Church.

Allison Church, born in the town of Texas, Vacuo as Allison Grey, was the wife of a scientist/engineer and the mother of a little girl. She was also a Huntress, an Special Operative in the Atlesian Military, and one day when she was around thirty-five: she went on a mission and never came back. No body, no nothing.

The mission-report claimed that the last her assigned partner saw of her, she was trying to take down an Emperor Taijitu. She vanished down the thing's throat, and it exploded with all kinds of Dust. Her corpse was never recovered, and it was said to have been destroyed in the blast.

The only thing that her partner was able to recover were her dog-tags, and he gave them to her daughter.

 ** _"Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes."_**

The Director shut down, then he turned to his associates Malcome Hardsgrove, Jacques Schnee, and Professor Polendina with an idea. An idea of creating an advanced AI, a copy of a person's mind. After years of research and design, the Director presented his plan to General James Ironwood. And with the thought of advancing the Atlesian Military's technology clouding his thoughts, Ironwood blindly agreed, unaware of what he was really doing.

To the military, to innocent lives, to the memory of a fallen soldier.

That's when the Director got to work. He gradually pulled forty-nine kids from orphanages and even Atlas Academy, cover ung up their disappearances and lying to Ironwood, saying that he pulled all volunteers from the military. He took his own daughter, as well. Then, he began the experiments to cover his AI research and please the military.

He created advanced equipment and armor for the children with the help of Schnee, who was now assisting in the funding and development of Project Freelancer, and they tested it on the children. Not all of these tests ended well, and the field-missions were dangerous. Soon, all that was left of Project Freelancer's fifty were Agents Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Florida, Wyoming, Maine, New York, and Washington.

While this was happening, the Director and Polendina had been experimenting, and they finally found a way to copy minds and forge AI from them. They tested it first on a deceased person: Allison Church.

It was copied from all surveillance and information on her from all of Remnant's databases, along with what the Director could add from their home-life. But the AI was unstable, and the Director had to lock it away. He didn't have the heart to destroy it... Then, he copied his own mind.

And that's how Alpha came to be.

Alpha was like all new AI at their creation. Confused, scared, in need of guidance. And, who did he get? The Director and Counselor Aidan Price, that's who. They tortured him with situations of intense emotional pain, like where everyone he loved got hurt and he was helpless. That caused the Alpha to fragment, like a human mind when it breaks, and each fragment was a severed piece of his personality.

The first to be split was Omega, who was soon followed by Beta. Beta was all of the Alpha's memories of Allison Church, and that's how Agent Texas, my Tex, was born into this world... But she wasn't what the Director had expected.

The Alpha, as a copy of the Director's mind, was still by all means a genius, and he knew what the Director was planning from the beginning. Even with his mind screwed-up by the torture, he vaguely knew what would become of this special fragment of his mind if he made her perfectly. And because he was a copy of the Director's mind that was still innocent and filled with hope, he couldn't bear to see that. So, before she fully split, he did what he could to alter her.

Agent Texas was a teenager like all of the other Freelancers, and she had no accessible memory of the Director or her daughter. She had little fragments of Allison's life to give her a sense of normalcy... But as she was an AI, she had to take on an aspect of the Alpha's personality. You don't get something for nothing. She paid a price for her partial-liberation from the Director's plan... And she'll pay for the rest of her life.

Beta was the AI of failure.

No matter how hard she tries, no matter how much she wants it or how much depends on it, no matter how close she is, her biggest victories always slip between her fingers. Little victories are easy. But when it matters most, Beta always fails. What kind of life is that?

Not easy, I can tell you that. Between being paired with Omega, finding out she was an AI, and going on the run after failing to save Alpha, Tex's life has been no party. And it will only get worse when she learns the truth about those she left behind at Project Freelancer.

 ** _"I failed. And this time, it really was my fault."_**

... No.

It wasn't.

...

Now, as for the Alpha (the original me), he was moved in his synthetic body to Blood Gulch with Flowers and Tucker, always at war with Sarge and Simmons and Lopez and Grif. Flowers died, Donut and Sheila and Caboose arrived, and...

Caboose ended up with Sheila's cannon, and he shot me. Just like that, I lost my first synthetic body. Son of a bitch. But, since Lopez was actually an android, I was able to take over his body until we could convince Sarge to build me an android replacement for my old body.

During this time, a medic called _Doc_ came to Blood Gulch and caused a lot of trouble for us due to his incompetence. As in, Caboose-level incompetence. And Caboose started acting strangely for some reason, becoming unnaturally violent at times and lashing out at Tucker, his mental-state getting worse. And he kept... Changing..

 ** _"My name is Michael J. Caboose, and I hate babies!"_**

It turns out that a Freelancer called Wyoming had been sent to keep an eye on us, and he had implanted an experimental copy of the Omega AI in Caboose. I used my abilities to get inside Caboose's head and chase Omega-2 out, and when Wyoming escaped through one of Atlas' experimental transporters, the Reds and Blues chased him. Except for Tucker, who had been shot, and Sheila and Donut. Doc also stayed to try and help.

Long story short: Grif and I ended up in prison, Sarge and Caboose ended up surrounded by crazed flag-worshippers, and Simmons ended up in the transporter-controlling janitor's closet or whatever. Simmons managed to save Sarge and Caboose, and they came to our location just as Grif and I escaped prison, the chase continuing as Tucker, Donut, and Doc arrived to help.

Unfortunately, one of Wyoming's weapons activated a bomb Sarge had placed in my chest, and it went off. I actually got sent back in time, and the others were send flying through time and space to the clear other side of Vacuo. I found Gamma in the past, and he made the long calculations to send me back to Blood Gulch just before the death of Flowers, and I tried to make things right for everyone.

But... Instead, I just made all of the bad things happen and blamed Caboose anyway. It took me dozens of tries before I finally found a way to get sent to Vacuo with the others, and we ended up facing Wyoming, Gamma, and one of the religious flag freaks that had been attacking Sarge and Caboose. We killed the religious guy, but Wyoming and Gamma escaped.

Tucker grabbed this sword-key thing and some weird sentient Grimm (a Beowolf) came and communicated to us that Tucker had been chosen to mend the divide between humans and Grimm. Tucker basically said _fuck it_ and went off with the thing... And he came back pregnant. Fuck.

 ** _"TUCKER'S NOT PREGNANT!"_**

We made our way back to Blood Gulch, and after a few days, a ship arrived with a new recruit: Grif's sister, Kaikaina Grif. We just called her _Sister_ , and due to being color-blind, the stupid bitch joined the Blue Team instead of the Red Team.

Luckily, Sheila was still at Blood Gulch and told us that we hadn't really been sent through time. At least, the others hadn't. And Tucker had his kid, a little boy with long black fur covering his body, white spines down his back and upper arms, white bone-plating on his chest, and a dog-like tail and ears. His eyes glowed red with yellow irises/pupils. He seemed to think that he was a Beowolf, but since his teeth were relatively human, he didn't do much damage. Tucker named the kid _Junior_ and started teaching him how to be human.

 ** _"Bow chica bark bark!"_**

But eventually Wyoming arrived with another sentient Grimm (a Beringel), and Gamma took over Sheila. They wanted to take Junior and use him to take over the Grimm from someone else who was controlling them (some Salem chick, or whatever) so that they could take over the world. Tucker, Sheila, and I stood against Wyoming as the others tried to take the Beringel down in the caves, but Gamma made Sheila turn on us, and Tucker started blabbing about everything repeating.

It turns out that Wyoming's equipment from Project Freelancer allowed him to infinitely loop time with his memories and repeat things so that he'd eventually come out with a win, and as Tucker's armor came from Flowers (who was actually Agent Florida), he was able to retain his memories and repeat enough times to be able to take down Wyoming. But Wyoming's constant time-repeats ended up making copies of him, but Tucker and I managed to take them out after we freed Sheila from Gamma.

At the end of the day, all of the Wyomings were dead and we managed to stop the Beringel from taking Junior. But soon after that, Tucker managed to confess that Wyoming was there for him, too. Tucker had learned that the Red vs. Blue battles were a ruse and that we were all being used. The Reds thought that we were the rebels, and we thought that they were the rebels.

It had all been a set-up.

 ** _"Red and Blue are the same!"_**

...

Eventually, to keep us quiet, we were split up and sent to different bases. I was sent to an outpost where I was alone and there were no Reds, the others scattered...

Until a Freelancer, Agent Washington, arrived.

 ** _"I'm not a cop!"_**

Agent Washington, or Wash, had been sent by Project Freelancer to hunt down the Meta. And, as we had dealt with Gamma, he was told that we were the best when it came to combating AI. The only reason I joined in was because Wash told me that if he died and lost the Delta AI, there was only one other Freelancer alive besides him and the Meta, only one with an AI the Meta would hunt her for.

I had to save Tex.

The Reds and the Blues (besides Tucker and Donut) eventually found each other and ended up working together to defeat this new enemy. We lured the Meta to the Project's main base of operations, and that's where Wash rescued Epsilon-me and told Alpha-me the truth.

I was the Alpha AI.

Of course, I didn't believe him. I still thought that I was a ghost, but Wash used logic to convince me otherwise. I hadn't been affected when Gamma tried to control me, I always agreed with Delta, I was affected by Epsilon. And, well, I didn't really have a better argument than-

 ** _"Boo, motherfucker."_**

... Ahem.

So, I agreed to help Wash in his plan to destroy all of the Meta's AI by setting off an EMP, even though I would be destroyed. We gave Epsilon to Caboose and told the others to run for it. Wash and I set off the EMP, but the Meta escaped before he could lose his AI.

 ** _"That EMP only affects technology. I am a mother-fucking ghost."_**

And that, my friends, is how the Alpha finally died.

And how I finally got my chance to live.

...

Caboose took Epsilon-me back to the bases at Valhalla. My body was still comatose, but Caboose did his best to wake me by telling me stories of the Alpha's adventures with the Reds and the Blues. Despite his brain-damage, he honestly did pretty well. He tried to leave Tucker out of it, but he eventually confessed the guy's existence just so he could tell me Tucker was stupid.

I eventually woke up to find myself surrounded by Grimm in the middle of a desert and a badass Tucker actually managing to reason with the things. It turns out that, due to all of the trauma from the incident with the sentient Grimm and _Junior_ , Tucker had unlocked his semblance, which allowed him to communicate with animals: including Grimm, although he told me that it was extremely hard of him and they were mostly saying things about ripping his intestines out.

General Ironwood actually assigned Tucker the permenant top-secret mission of communicating with captured and wild Grimm and trying to learn more about them and their origins. He didn't really find much, something about that Salem chick and goo. Tucker didn't really think it was all that significant, but Ironwood seemed to think it was life-altering information. Whatever.

Tucker actually managed to train some of the stupider Grimm to help him with his job, he and Junior acting as diplomats/trainers before Tucker sent his rapidly-aging Grimm-child to school. Last I heard, he was on his fifth-grade basketball team.

 ** _"Junior is awesome!"_**

Donut arrived, and the gang was back together. But Agent Washington, fresh out of prison, arrived with the Meta and said that he had made a deal with Chairman Hardsgrove from _Charon Industries_. If I was brought in, he would never have to go back to prison or deal with the governments of Remnant again. And the Meta would be given free reign to hunt down Tex. They shot Donut, Lopez, Sister, and Shiela, and they captured Doc.

I managed to lure the Meta and Wash to an island just off the coast of Atlas, but I was shot and I was pretty much screwed. That is, until the Meta turned on Washington and Wash put himself between the monster of a Freelancer and me. Wash was seriously injured, but the others arrived just in time to save us and chase the Meta off.

The UNSC arrived to find Wash and I, but they never thought to check inside the snowmen Grif had made in the moments before their arrival.

Wink-wink.

 ** _"For what it's worth... Thanks."_**

Agent Washington officially joined the Blue Team.

...

After that, Agent Carolina seemingly returned from the dead and recruited us, making us help her to hunt down the Director and make him pay for his crimes. Of course, I agreed, and the two of us ended up partners (I ditched my body). Along the way, we found Doc, Donut, Sheila, Sister, and Lopez alive and well, and despite everything (including me snapping at my friends (yes, I called them _friends_ )), we arrived at the Director's hiding place...

To find an army of Tex's.

 ** _"You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in."_**

As far as we know, it was the original Allison AI, the one made from the dead mind of Allison Church, and it had been split and spread across hundreds of robotic bodies. The Director had kept on trying to make her right, and he ended up with an army. The bodies were weak, but despite that, it took all of us to beat the Texes... Including an angry Caboose and an insane Doc, who had accidentally been infected by an AI that had been made to replicate Omega, _Omega-2_ \- who is really sarcastic, pessimistic, self-destructive, and determined to rule the world through violence and cruel actions of oppression and torture. Dude needs help, really - he does.

Finally, after I talked to an empty remnant of Allison Church down and shut her off -

 ** _"I'm just... I'm tired. I'm really tired."_**

\- Carolina and I came face-to-face with the Director. And instead of finding a powerful madman who seemed perfectly capable of all of the terrible things committed by Project Freelancer, we found a broken shadow of a man who kept rewatching the video of his final moments with his wife.

 ** _"I just need a little more time..."_**

 ** _" You'll see me again."_**

And instead of killing him, Carolina kissed her father's forehead and left him her pistol, letting go of all her anger and hate as she finally realized exactly who Tex had been and what her father's reasons were. She didn't forgive him, she just understood why and did her best to move on.

 ** _"You were my greatest creation."_**

It took me a little longer.

 ** _"He was brilliant. And we trusted him! But he lied to us. He twisted and tortured us! And used us! Manipulated us for his own purposes, and for what?! For this? This... Shadow?! He needs to pay."_**

I left with Carolina.

...

So, yeah.

I died twice. My Alpha and Director selves: they're gone.

But hey, I'm still here. And I'm traveling with Carolina, trying to find the one thing we've both been searching for from the very beginning.

We're going to find Allison.

We're going to find Tex.

Because, well, if there was one thing the two of us always agreed on, even though our previous lives argued CONSTANTLY, it was that we hated to say one word.

 _Goodbye._

* * *

 ** _Well... This was probably the hardest chapter that I've ever had to write. Barely any dialogue, all explanation of the changes this universe has made to the Red vs. Blue story. God, this sucked..._**

 ** _Was it worth it?_**

 ** _I own nothing. Please read, review, check out my other stories, etc. Thanks!_**


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